The persecution of people belonging to the Ahmadi community in Pakistan seems to be at rock bottom as the police arrested as many as 36 members of the community for celebrating Eid Al-Adha or Bakrid. The Ahmadis were arrested for organising Qurbani sacrifice on the occasion of Eid.
Last year statistics provided by the tanners’ associations in Pakistan show that over six million animals valued at approximately Rs 531 billion were sacrificed during the three-day Eid festival in 2023, and in this year, it has been reported that the numbers will reach 6.8 million. While animal sacrifice is a routine practice in Pakistan during Eid, the Ahmadis are restrained from practising their Islamic rites since they are recognised as non-Muslims in Pakistan.
“At least 36 members of the Ahmadiyya community have been arrested for offering on sacrificing animals for slaughter on the Eid-ul-Adha in the country especially in the Punjab Province,” Amir Mahmood, an official of the Jamaat-e-Ahmadiyya Pakistan, representing the minority community in the country, told media agencies.
“Accusing authorities of preventing Ahmadis from offering their religious rights within the confinement of their homes during Eid and detaining people with their sacrificial animals,” the official added, “Preventing Ahmadis from offering their religious rites within the confinement of the four walls is a grave violation of the judgements by the Supreme Court of Pakistan.
Mahmood alleged that the Tehreek-i-Labbiak of Pakistan has been inciting hostility towards the Ahmadiyya community and putting pressure on the police to prevent the members of the minority group from carrying out their religious rites. The group was being persecuted, he asserted especially in the Punjab area by both law enforcement officials and radicals.
He said that the Ahmadiyya were prevented from conducting Eid prayers on June 17, 2024. The police have also threatened Ahmadiyya leadership with immediate danger from TLP, if they are discovered conducting Qurbani or offering Eid prayers.
“It has come to be known that the intelligence agencies have also issued a threat alert on the occasion of Eid against Ahmadiyya people, Mahmood said. The Jamaat-e-Pakistan has demanded the immediate release of Ahmadis detained on Eid and urged authorities to take steps towards ensuring religious freedom. Meanwhile videos have emerged on social media showing Pakistani police raiding the houses of members of the persecuted Ahmadi community and arrested people for offering Qurbani at their homes.
Notably, last year too, the Punjab Police in the Islamic State of Pakistan issued a directive to stop minority Ahmadi Muslims from organising Qurbani sacrifice and offering Namaz even from within their houses during the Islamic festival of Bakrid.
Local media reports suggested that the notice had been sent to all police stations asking police personnel to stop Ahmadis from performing Qurbani as it is offensive to other Muslims. The police, as per the reports, have warned that if any Ahmadiyya person violates these directives, they would face jail or face financial penalty under 298-B and 298-C (Ahmadi blasphemy laws) of the Pakistani Penal Code.
