The Community strongly criticises the persecution they are suffering in Pakistan

Ahmadiyya Community denounces the shooting of an Ahmadi doctor in Pakistan

The Ahmadiyya Community has denounced in an official statement the shooting death of an Ahmadi doctor in Pakistan as part of the spiral of persecution suffered by this group in the Pakistani nation.

The official statement of the Ahmadiyya Community is reproduced below:

PERSECUTION OF THE AHMADIYYA COMMUNITY IN PAKISTAN

A NORWEGIAN AHMADI DOCTOR BRUTALLY GUNNED DOWN IN GOTERIALA, PAKISTAN

It is with great sorrow that we write to you with the tragic news of the brutal cold-blooded murder of an Ahmadi doctor, as the wave of attacks against Ahmadis in Pakistan continues.

On 19 February 2023, in Goteriala, Gujrat district, Dr Rasheed Ahmad, 75, was in his clinic when he was shot several times in a clearly premeditated murder. His assailant was known in the neighbourhood for leading the opposition against Muslim Ahmadis, although law enforcement officials turned a blind eye to his moves to incite religious hatred.

Dr. Rasheed Ahmad had set up a homeopathy clinic to treat the poorest of the poor in his village. He was well known for his humanitarian services and his passion for his work as a doctor.

His targeted killing is a tragic reminder of the persecution of Ahmadis in Pakistan and around the world. It is yet another in a series of brutal and inhumane attacks on Ahmadi Muslims in Pakistan, while the state stands by and watches as fanatics, emboldened by radical political leaders, kill Ahmadis on the streets with impunity.

We ask for your kind support, along with that of your friends and contacts, in firmly demanding that the Government of Pakistan establish freedom of religion and safeguard fundamental human rights. The International Community must put pressure on the Government of Pakistan to arrest each and every one of the culprits who have been fuelling hatred, inciting violence and provoking cruel killings of Ahmadis in broad daylight - even in front of their minor children - and to bring swift and impartial justice to the families of those killed. It is paradoxical that this is happening in Pakistan, which professes to be a democratic Islamic state, for the stark reality is that the Pakistani government and law enforcement agencies do nothing to protect members of the Ahmadiyya Community or to curb incitement to hatred. This persecution shows the utter disregard for the rights of the Ahmadi minority in Pakistan and creates a terrible sense of insecurity among them.

As we have recalled on previous occasions, on 13 July 2021 UN human rights experts expressed their deep concern at the lack of attention to the grave human rights violations perpetrated against the Muslim Ahmadi community around the world. They called on the international community to redouble its efforts to put an end to this persecution.

We therefore strongly urge the International Community to hold the Government of Pakistan accountable, provide effective protection and religious freedom to the Ahmadis, bring the perpetrators of these vicious attacks to justice and bring its laws and practices in line with international standards, as mandated by Articles 20, 2, 18 of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), Articles 25 and 26.  

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