Gunmen desecrate Ahmadi graves in Lahore
Pakistani news photographers take pictures of desecrated graves at the minority Ahmadi community graveyard in Lahore. -AFP Photo
LAHORE: Gunmen on Monday desecrated graves of Ahmadis in Lahore, members of the minority community said, in the latest act of intimidation and religious hatred against the beleaguered group.
More than a dozen masked men broke into an Ahmadi graveyard in the Model Town area of Lahore before dawn and after tying up the security guard and caretaker vandalised graves, community spokesman Salimud Din said.
The attackers shattered the tomb stones of about 120 graves and left, he said.
Din said police took no action after similar incidents a few months ago in the eastern city of Faisalabad and the central town of Lodhran.
“The government has failed to protect our human rights and Ahmadis’ life and property is not safe in Pakistan,” Din said.
Shahid Ataullah, a local Ahmadi elder, said the attackers came around 2:00am (2100 GMT) and threatened the guard and caretaker with “dire consequences” and said that they were annoyed because Islamic verses were engraved on the tombstones.
Ataullah told AFP that the attackers told the guards they were from militant groups Lashkar-e-Taiba and the Taliban, though there was no claim of responsibility.
Members of the community were discussing whether or not to lodge a formal complaint with police, he said.
“We are under lots of pressure and the objective seems to be to harass us,”Ataullah said.
Police said that they were not aware of the incident.
“There is no such thing in our knowledge. We will take action when someone files a report about the incident,” local police station chief Idrees Qureshi told AFP.
In May 2010, nearly 100 people were killed in Lahore after militants stormed two Ahmadi places of worship launching gun and grenade attacks.
Gunmen later raided the hospital where victims were being treated, killing four people in a shoot out.
shame and misery…i am just unable to figure out the shapes of minds of such people who do such acts..are they humans??i am sure they cannot be even humans…
it is very shameful act. how one can do it? we can only pray for those people who have done this shameful act that allah blessed them with wisdom
This is indeed a shameful act and under the nose of Khadim e aala.
I am sorry to read this article, shame, shame, shame…I want to thank the editor to print this article, so we can read, while leaving in USA. Islam is a peaceful religion and what ever happen its against Islam.
I am sunni-muslim , when I was a little kid, my mom always said if you cant help others than please don’t hurt them. I still follow that, even in USA…. I request AHMADI COMMUNITY, Please accept my apology …Thank you all.
I hope Pakistani government take legal action against criminals, and punish them.
Allah Hafiz
Sincerely, Ashraf Mirza USA
Allah Talah gave him right direct what they doing we all shoud pray for them
make them Right muslim ( Ameen)
As a Pakistani and Muslim, I apologize to our Ahmedi friends. It is a shame. This shows the Taliban ideology and influence. What Taliban do is only political. It has nothing to do with Islam. In fact it is against Islam and the teachings of the holy prophet SAWW.
If Pakistani’s want any good to come to their country, they should unite against Taliban. I request the honorable Chief Justice of supreme court to take suo moto notice of this and other terrorist activities of Taliban and direct the government to take whatever action is necessary to eliminate this greatest threat to our country and Islam.
It is hard for the government to control these kinds of atrocities because the hate mongers have been fed for too long and too much and they have become gods on the streets of Pakistan. There is hardly any who can call a spade a spade. To control these hate mongers you need a Mard-e-Momin. Not that I am pessimistic or hopeless from Allah, the Almighty but I don’t see anyone in the religious or secular leadership who can fix this issue. May Allah help the oppressed ones and punish the oppressors everywhere in the world.
Allah Akbar,
Now so called muslim of pakistan do not have eyes and brain that one day they are going in the same sport and they all anserable to God and what they going to say ,what is their responsibilty and what they did for that
Did they get for for bad people who did that ” Allah saw every thing Good and bad thing and He will gave the punish in the day of judgement man is not allowed to dicided what is good and bad but Allah the only one have the power and decided what is correct” Allah will asked you for your this unislamic act and will punish you in for your this act, we only can pray for you guys
Shameful – as a Pakistani, and a Muslim, I condemn these blasphemous acts! The government and local administration is too afraid to do anything, yet they dont realize that their inaction will only result in more actions by the religious extremists, who will not stop at anything until you are towing their ideology. Thus, no Sunni, Shia, Ahmadi, Sufi, Ismaeli, Christian, Hindu or other religious ideology will be safe in Pakistan, as these barbarians do not differentiate. This must stop, and as a Pakistani I am ashamed and apologize to my fellow Pakistanis and brethren in the Ahmadi community and other communities who continue to be targeted and persecuted.
Hatred in the name of religion,first Ahmadis were declared minority by ZAB, Zia went further declared them non Muslims, now even their final resting places are demolished, though every mullah will tell you it is against the teaching of Islam. Yet, we don’t see any mullah speaking up loudly against it.
There are no one in Pakistan stopping these bad guys doing bad things.
What bad is left to happen in Pakistan?I think everything bad has already happened in Pakistan.