An Ahmadi Mosque in Punjab province, in south-eastern Pakistan, was partially destroyed on October 25, the latest casualty in Pakistan’s campaign against the tiny Muslim minority.
Assistant Commissioner of Hasilpur, Mohammad Tayyab led the Friday operation which saw the destruction of the Mosque’s Mihrab. He was accompanied by the Police officers and officials from Bladia, the local development authority.
A spokesperson for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Pakistan, Saleemuddin, confirmed the incident saying the Local Government & Community Development authority “destroyed parts of the building without notice”. He added that members of the Ahmadi community who filmed the illegal demolition were also falsely charged by Police.
The mosque which is located in Chak 161 Murad was constructed in 1949 on land owned by the local Ahmadi community. In May 2018 another 100-year-old Ahmadi mosque located in the city of Sialkot was destroyed by an angry mob.
Yet another Ahmadi Mosque vandalized. Not my unknown religious extremists. Not by sunni extremist mob. But by Pakistani police. The world should end their silence & condemn the ongoing #AhmadiApartheid in Pakistan. State is supposed to protect, not attack places of worship. https://t.co/bNpEIM7XSq
— Kashif N Chaudhry (@KashifMD) October 25, 2019
The Assistant Commissioner of Hasilpur could not be reached for comment.
According to local reports, the mosque’s mihrab — the semicircular niche in the wall of a mosque — was destroyed during the demolition carried out by Assistant Commissioner of Hasilpur, Mohammad Tayyab. He was accompanied by police officers from Bladia, the local development authority.
A spokesperson of the Ahmadiyya community in Pakistan, Saleem ud Din, said the local government and the Community Development Authority “destroyed parts of the building without notice”. He further said that some members of the Ahmadi community, who filmed the demolition on their phone cameras, were booked by the police.