Since years CAP Freedom of Conscience denounce wave of targeted attacks on its places of worship of the Ahmadiyya community. In the latest incident reported by IHRC, an Ahmadiyya mosque in the town of Sanghar was vandalised with hammers.
CAP Liberté de Conscience is calling on the government to protect them from these attacks. CAP LC say Pakistan must reach the standard of the Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of the Human Rights and ensure the religious freedom for all the citizen.
The attacks on Ahmadiyya places of worship have raised serious concerns among the international community and civil society about religious freedom in Pakistan. The government must implement the international conventions it has signed to ensure that the Ahmadiyya community can practise its faith freely.
IHRC has reported earlier that a wave of bigotry against Ahmadis has intensified since the start of 2023. This is the 12th attack on an Ahmadiyya Muslim Mosque this year.
The places of worship of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community are under constant attack by miscreants, put to mischief by their extremist clerics, who have no fear of the law as they are confident no action will be taken against them.
In the latest line of atrocities, on 5th Aug 2023, the arch of the Ahmadiyya place of worship was broken with hammers at noon in Mali Para area of Sanghar city. Sad scenes of this event quickly started circulating on social media; the vicious action and some perpetrators can be seen in this copy of the video1.
To date this year, this is the 7th incident in Sindh province in which the Ahmadiyya places of worship have been attacked. None of the accused in any of the incidents have been brought to justice which gives rise to more atrocities to be committed which will again go unpunished.
Authorities continue to stand by and even be complicit in atrocities committed by radical clerics in Pakistan.
The Supreme Court of Pakistan’s judgement (PLD 2014 SC 699), authored by the then Chief Justice of Pakistan, Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani, guarantees the protection of all places of worship and instructs the police to protect places of worship. Destroying minarets is also a violation of Article 20 and the same Supreme Court verdict of 2014 (PLD 2014 SC 699).
The same Supreme Court judgement of 2014 (PLD 2014 SC 699) had asked the Government of Pakistan to form a special task force for the protection of worship places of minorities. On the contrary, an extremist agenda sponsored by the state is being pursued against the Ahmadiyya community with authorities encouraging this type of violent behaviour which defies this Supreme Court judgement of 2014 (PLD 2014 SC 699) and all norms of religious sanctimony.
In Pakistan, there has been a sharp increase in attacks against people of the Ahmadiyya community and also incidents of damage to their property, especially Ahmadiyya Muslim Mosques and graveyards.
Human rights groups have repeatedly expressed their deep concern over the lack of attention to the serious human rights violations perpetrated against the Ahmadiyya community around the world and called on the international community to step up efforts in bringing an end to the ongoing persecution of Ahmadis.
On July 13, 2021, UN human rights experts expressed their deep concern over the lack of attention to the serious human rights violations perpetrated against the Ahmadiyya community around the world and called on the international community to step up efforts in bringing an end to the ongoing persecution of Ahmadis.
We once again urge the international community to pressure the Government of Pakistan to honor its responsibility to provide protection to all its citizens, ensure freedom of religious practice to Ahmadis, and bring perpetrators of such vicious attacks to justice. The Government of Pakistan must also bring its laws and practices in conformity with international standards as ordained by Article 2, 18 and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) Article 25, 26.
