The world had hardly come to terms with the shock and horror of the burning down of a chipboard factory by an enraged mob led by misanthropic mullahs when news has emerged of another attack. This time an Ahmadi Muslim mosque in Kala Gujram, not far from the chipboard factory, has been targeted.

The local law enforcement agencies completely failed to control or disperse the crowd and protect the lives and properties of the Ahmadis. On the other hand, the police acted cruelly and arrested a senior member of the Ahmadiyya Community in Jhelum. The perpetrators intended to burn alive all Ahmadis onsite.

According to information gathered from Siasat Pakistan, an enraged mob set an Ahmadi place of worship on fire in Punjab’s Jhelum District on Saturday, November 21, following Friday night’s arson attack on the chipboard factory.

The mob managed to break through the police cordon which was established to safeguard Ahmadi places of worship following Friday night’s unrest. Police had to resort to baton charging and tear gassing the protesters in order to bring the situation under control, but still they were unable to do so. The mob resorted to pelting stones at the police personnel. As tensions rose, a contingent of the Pakistan Army was called in to assist local police forces.

The fundamentalist Muslim leaders, known as mullahs, who profess to be scholars of Islam, shamelessly took all the prayer mats in the Ahmadi mosque and removed all other furnishings in the mosque and set fire to them.

According to other reports, another mosque in the city of Jhelum has been sealed and occupied by mullahs.

It has now become evident that this represents a coordinated and pre-planned scheme to burn and kill all Ahmadis in the district; the mullahs left no stone unturned to accomplish the goal.

Most of the members of the Ahmadiyya Community in the District are now in hiding for their safety and security. This ferocious persecution has destroyed the livelihoods and family lives of hundreds of Ahmadis. No senior government official has visited the area or done anything substantive to restore peace and protect Ahmadis. The chipboard factory, which used to produce the best quality chipboard in the country, and had been in operation for over fifty years, has been reduced to ashes. Government authorities feign ignorance.

The atmosphere in and around Jhelum City remains on knife-edge and its effects are now spilling over into other parts of Pakistan. It is becoming impossible for Ahmadis to continue their daily life, jobs, and business as secure citizens of Pakistan. In light of all this, they are fleeing to any haven outside the country to save their lives and that of their children.

The Asian Human Rights Commission urges that international human rights organisations must take serious note that the Ahmadi Muslims have been the victims of abominable persecution for decades in Pakistan, with no recourse to justice, freedom of faith and religion, and their fundamental civic rights. They have been denied the right to vote and severely discriminated against in all other spheres of life.