Mob attacks Ahmedi sacred site, worship place in Sialkot

• RPO takes notice, summons detailed report from Sialkot DPO, DC

LAHORE: A mob— allegedly comprising members of Tehreek-e-Labbaik Ya Rasool Allah (TRLY) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)— in connivance with the Tehsil Municipal Administration (TMA) and police officials attacked an Ahmedi place of worship and a sacred site in wee hours of Thursday.

A video making rounds on the social media shows the mob demolishing the place of worship, and another video shows a member of PTI, Hamid Raza, thanking the TMA, DPO Sialkot and district commissioner for their “support” in demolishing the Ahmedi property.

The video also shows Hamid Raza threatening that if an FIR [First Information Report] is registered against any member of the mob, they will “turn the whole city into ashes”.

Talking to Pakistan Today, Jammat-e-Ahmadiyya Spokesperson Saleemuddin lamented that police played the role of “silent spectator”.

According to Saleemuddin, the bone of contention was the renovation of a house in front of the worship place, which holds sacred value for the minority community.

“The house was a one-time residence of the Jamaat founder,” he said.

“The TMA kept finding ‘technical faults’, saying that the community cannot renovate the house,” he said and added that they had sorted out the matter.

“There were two buildings belonging to our community in front of that place of worship, they demolished those buildings too,” he said.

“It was very difficult for our people to go there at the time as there were security fears,” he added.

Pakistan Today repeatedly tried to contact DPO Sialkot but he was not available for comment.

Taking notice of the matter, Regional Police Officer (RPO) Gujranwala Raja Riffat Mukhtar has summoned a detailed report from the Sialkot DPO and deputy commissioner.

“I have also called the TMA officials into office on Friday,” he told Pakistan Today.

According to a recently released annual report by the Ahmedi community, 77 persons were booked under discriminatory religious laws in 2017, with nine still in prison “on faith-related allegations”, while four others were murdered.