Under the pressure of the radical Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan, members of the Ahmadiyya community are now prohibited even from praying in their own houses of worship.
March 13, 2025
Members of the heavily persecuted Ahmadiyya community in Pakistan are now being arrested just for praying inside their houses of worship. This is part of a campaign instigated by the extremist religious-political organization Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), to which “Bitter Winter” devoted a series of seven articles. While it is true that the Pakistani government tries to contain TLP extremism, it is also intimated by its threats of riots. In the case of the Ahmadis, police and courts often end up siding with TLP.
According to a FIR (First Information Report) filed with the police on February 28, 2025, a copy of which has been obtained and published by the International Human Rights Committee, based in England, one Hamza Asif Butt, who appears to be connected with TLP, claimed he was taking a walk the same day in Daska, Punjab. He heard a voice delivering what he recognized as a “Qadiani” (a derogatory word used to describe the Ahmadis) sermon.
He managed to look inside the building, an Ahmadi place of worship, and found twenty-six devotees gathered there. Since the day was a Friday, he claimed that the Ahmadis were preparing to offering Friday prayers. According to him, praying on Friday for the Ahmadis is tantamount to claiming to be Muslims, something they are not allowed to do by Pakistani anti-Ahmadi laws.
He called the police, which promptly arrested 22 Ahmadis. On March 5, they were denied bail and remain in jail.
The incident confirms the current extensive interpretation of anti-Ahmadi laws, which are in themselves contrary to the United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which Pakistan signed and ratified, under the pressure of Tehreek-e-Labbaik. Even private worship inside buildings with locked doors is now prohibited for the Ahmadis.
Source: bitterwinter.org
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