“Three people were arrested Monday afternoon in the town of Rabwah during an unwarranted armed raid on the offices of Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Pakistan.”
The arrests were carried out by the CounterTerrorism Department (CTD) of Punjab Police, which is responsible for investigating terrorism and sectarianrelated incidents. Three police vans with around 28 heavily armed officers forced their way into the Ahmadiyya community’s office, locally known as ‘TehrikeJadid’.
CTD officers slammed the workers present in the yard to the ground while another unit made its way up to the publishing office on the second floor of the building. Three Ahmadi workers were taken into custody from the publishing office. Witnesses say Police officers refused to produce any warrants and took away office equipment and personal belongings including computers, cell phones, and several books.
Another CTD unit entered the building’s security room and beat up the security manager, Rana Irfan, who was later admitted to Tahir Heart Hospital due to the severity of his injuries. Before leaving, the CTD personnel also disabled the CCTV system.
This has come as a shock to the local Ahmadiyya Muslim Community who are often times victims of terror attacks. The provision 8 of the anti terrorism act was designed to stop sectarian hatred against minorities like the Ahmadiyya but is being increasingly used by extremist clerics to target minorities.
In 1974, Pakistan declared the Ahmadiyya sect to be nonMuslim through a constitutional amendment, since then the Ahmadis have faced fiercee persecution both by the state and by local extremist groups like KhatmeNabuwat and ASWJ (AhleSunnat Wal Jammat).
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat Finland strongly condemns the unlawful armed raid on the Ahmadiyya Community’s “TehrikeJadid” offices in Rabwah, Pakistan. The state sponsored persecution of the Ahmadiyya Muslims by the Pakistani Government must stop immediately.
For further information, please contact:
- Ataul Ghalib, National President, Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat Finland
+358451340710
alislam.finland@gmail.com - Musawer Ahmad Shahid, Imam & Missionary Incharge, Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat Finland
+358449758181
musshah38@gmail.com - Ahmad Farooq Qureshi, Head of External Affairs, Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat Finland
+358401845162
ahmad.f.qureshi@gmail.com
AHMADIYYA MUSLIM JAMAAT WORLDWIDE
Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat is the promised revival of Islam, international in its composition which spans over 200 countries. This is the most dynamic denomination of Islam in modern history. Its current headquarters is in the United Kingdom.
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat was established in 1889, by Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (AS) in a small and remote village of Qadian, in Punjab, India. He claimed to be the expected reformer of the latter days, the awaited one for the world community of religions. The movement he started is a benevolent message of Islam – peace, universal brotherhood and submission to the will of God in its pristine purity. Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat worldwide is the leading Islamic organization to categorically reject terrorism in any form. The Movement was founded under Divine guidance to rejuvenate Islamic moral & spiritual values.
It encourages interfaith dialogue and diligently tries to correct misunderstandings about Islam. It advocates peace, tolerance and understanding among followers of different faiths. In doing so it has faced denial of basic human rights, targeted attacks, violent persecution extending to targeted killings and massacres. Still, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community continues to be an advocate for universal human rights and protections for religious and other minorities. It champions the empowerment and education of women. Its members are among the most lawabiding, educated, and engaged Muslims in the world.