The Ahmadiyya Muslims in Pakistan are not only treated like pariahs in their life but also desecrated, dug up and humiliated after their death.
The recent incident of Punjab Police destroying about 50 tombstones in an Ahmadiyya cemetery has once again brought to light the deep-rooted disdain for minority communities in the state of Pakistan, reported Islam Khabar.
The reason for destroying and damaging the cemetery was the use of Quranic verses on some of them. Some local Sunnis had complained to the police about the same, which according to Pakistani law, was a criminal offence.
Although leading human rights groups in Pakistan have condemned the act, the state has chosen to remain silent and complicit, reported Islam Khabar.
Numbering close to four million, Ahmadiyya has been deprived in Pakistan, over a year, about 150 graves of Ahmadiyya have been desecrated in Pakistan. Most of these desecrations are caused by local administrations who argue that Ahmadiyyas were at fault for using Islamic symbols.
The graves were desecrated in the Hafizabad district of Punjab on February 4 and 5, 2022. This is not the first time Ahmadiyya graves have been desecrated.
Earlier, (June 6, 2021) when a grave for a deceased Ahmadiyya woman was being dug up in Sheikhupura district, Punjab, a mob of local Sunni Muslims tried to prevent the burial, reported Islam Khabar.
Pakistani Constitution forbids the Ahmadiyya community from using Islamic signs and symbols. While there is hardly any official record of such desecrations, details maintained by the Ahmadiyya community show 39 Ahmadiyya corpses getting exhumed and 69 burials denied from 1984 to 2018.
Over the years, Ahmadiyyas have become the most hated and humiliated Muslim sect in Pakistan. Thousands have been attacked by mobs and scores have fled the country. By law, they cannot call the azan, cannot use Islamic terms and titles, read Islamic texts for prayers, name their places of worship 'masjid' and greet people in the Islamic manner. All these are acts punishable with three years in jail and a fine.
( With inputs from ANI )
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