In a harrowing incident that is unfolding in the Patuakhali district of Bangladesh, Hindu families in Ghurchakathi village are living in fear as they face threats of eviction and extortion from Islamists identified as Muhammad Harun and Al Amin. The perpetrators are demanding money from the Hindu families and coercing them to vacate their homes and lands.

Disturbing visuals from Ghurchakathi highlight the anguish of women who recount their traumatic experiences. One woman bravely shared that the Islamist leaders approached them, demanding a hefty sum of 1.5 lakh takas or forcing them to abandon their homes and property. Shockingly, the victims also claim that the Islamists have resorted to threats of sexual assault if their demands are not met.

Moreover, an elderly lady, visibly distressed, also expressed concern over the lawlessness prevailing in the area, questioning how they could seize her ancestral property, passed down from her father-in-law and mother-in-law. Apparently, the incident exposes the vulnerability of the Hindu community in Bangladesh who are facing constant existential threats at the hands of radical Islamists.

The plight of these minority Hindus is further exacerbated by the fact that the perpetrators often come from influential backgrounds, leaving victims with little recourse for justice. Complaints and pleas for help are frequently ignored, leaving the affected families in a state of desperation. This disturbing episode underscores the broader challenges and existential threats faced by the Hindu minority in Bangladesh.

In a shocking incident that unfolded on Monday, a mob of over 50 individuals, armed with hammers, shovels, and sticks, forcibly stormed an Ahmadiyya mosque situated in the Kotli district of the Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (POJK). The attackers inflicted injuries on eight Ahmadi worshippers, including five women, and ruthlessly demolished all four minarets of the mosque.

Ahmadiyyas, a sect of Islam, have long faced persecution in Pakistan, being constitutionally declared as non-Muslims in 1974. This declaration was followed by further restrictions in 1984, stripping them of the right to identify themselves as Muslims. Consequently, the community is prohibited from building mosques with minarets, which has often made them targets for violent attacks.

The assailants targeted the minarets of Ahmadiyya mosque, symbolizing a blatant violation of religious freedom. The incident highlights the ongoing challenges faced by the Ahmadiyya community, who continue to endure discrimination, both legally and socially, in Pakistan and its occupied territories.

In the aftermath of the recently concluded elections in Pakistan, Sahiwal witnesses a disturbing surge in violence and persecution, particularly targeting the Christian community. Reports emanating from Chak 6-11-L, neighboring Sahiwal Harappa, suggest that the Christians have been attacked by local Islamists, marking a distressing turn of events following the election results.

Arshad Masih, a 55-year-old resident, recounts the troubling sequence of events that unfolded. What began as a confrontation against his son, Ansar Gill, 30, by supporters of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf for his PML-N vote, escalated into a violent episode as PML-N candidates Rana Riaz and Mian Ashraf celebrated their victory.

The situation took a drastic turn on February 12, around 2 am, when a group of assailants, comprising both local individuals and unidentified attackers, attacked Christian homes in retaliation for the election outcomes. Shockingly, the assailants employed petrol bombs and firearms, specifically targeting the residences of key community figures, including Pastor Hashmat Masih and Tahir Gill.

Attack on Pastor

The first target was Pastor Hashmat Masih’s residence, where he and his family narrowly escaped harm. The assailants then turned to Tahir Gill’s home, resulting in the destruction of his rickshaw through a petrol bomb. The third victim was Shoukat Gill, whose home sustained gunfire damage. Adding to the complexity of the situation, the attackers have further complicated matters by filing a First Information Report (FIR) against the Christian community.

In an area with approximately 100 Christian households amid 1400 Muslim residences, where many Christians work as laborers, concerns for the already vulnerable minority community in Pakistan have intensified. The election-related violence exacerbates anxieties about the security of the Christian community, echoing echoes of the Jaranwala incident a few months ago, where Christian churches and homes were targeted.

As authorities investigate this distressing episode, urgent calls for prompt action resonate to ensure the safety and protection of the Christian community in Sahiwal. The rising tensions within the region demand a swift response to address the alarming escalation of sectarian violence.

Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has issued a detailed statement regarding the recently concluded sham elections in Pakistan. On February 8, the elections happened in Pakistan, TTP claimed that continuous deliberation in the Islamic Republic for past 77 years have not benefitted Islam and hence, the radicalised parties in Pakistan should join hands with TTP to instal a political system in Pakistan similar to Taliban regime in Afghanistan.  

According to TTP, the democratic process of elections adopted by Pakistan that have only divided the Ummah and the leaders have been imposed through media propaganda and what it called as the “secret satanic forces” whose loyalty is not to Islam. In its statement TTP defined it as a recipe to impose the Islam of West.

Raising question over the Pakistani establishment, TTP targeted Pakistan Army saying that they are put forward by the imperialist forces and when they retire, they return to their masters, where they have businesses and accumulated looted capital of poor people.

Highlighting the deep entrenched military establishment’s rule, the terrorist organisation stated that the military establishment imposes the influential slave political families on Pakistan through nominally democratic elections and further undermines the Islamic values.

TTP also claimed that Pakistan is not a free and independent country and that its foreign, internal, economic, educational, defence, military and social policies are the tenants of the military establishment.

TTP’s call for “Holy Jihad”

Furthermore, TTP said that the only option for Pakistan is the path of terrorism which is termed as “the Holy Jihad.” The Holy Jihad of Tehreek Taliban Pakistan, it said, “has entered a hopeful stage, the manpower of Mujahideen is increasing rapidly, the scope of the war is widening. In most areas, it is becoming difficult for the occupying forces to attack their forts.”  

In its pursuit of terrorism, it requested the bigoted Islamic political parties working in Pakistan (Jamaat Ulema-e-Islam, Jamaat-e-Islami, Tehreek-e-Labeek and Jamiat Ahl-e-Hadith, etc.) to join hands together as the electoral and democratic practices could neither achieve nothing nor it is good for Islam Ummah.

It appealed to these bigoted political parties to direct towards Jihadi politics, referring to it as a stronger hope from Allah to install a political system akin to the Taliban regime in Afghanistan.

In a concerning development, Noorullah Tareen, the Provincial Coordinator of the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) in Sindh, has been languishing in illegal imprisonment for more than four months. Tareen, an outspoken advocate for the Pashtun rights has been implicated in fake sedition charges, a move widely criticized as an attempt to suppress his proactive stance on behalf of the Afghan refugee community.

Noorullah was arrested last year from Karachi in October, and since then is incarcerated in Karachi jail. He was arrested following proactively putting up the fight of Afghan refugees and standing besides them. In September when Pak Army faced humiliating assault by TTP in Chitral, it took out its frustration on Afghani civilians. Pakistan launched a crackdown of Afghan migrants, for which Pakistan and PTM Sindh came facing each other. Since a significant number of Afghans were harassed by Pakistani establishment in Sindh, Noorullah Tareen took key measures to provide them protection, even legal aid.

Unhappy with this, Pakistani establishment implicated him in the fake cases. Over four months have past and on every court hearing the matter is staved off to a next hearing.

The abduction and arrest of Noorullah Tareen highlights that their is no law and order in Pakistan and those raising the voice of dissent are only punished with unlawful arrest, detention on fabricated sedition charges.