In an unfortunate incident, the Ahmadiyya community’s place of worship in Karachi was sealed at the behest of extremist group Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP).
The sealing of the Ahmadiyya Jamaat’s place of worship is not an isolated incident; last year, an Ahmadi place of worship was vandalized by a mob in Karachi, with videos showing masked men using sledgehammers to damage the minarets while others shouted slogans.
The Ahmadiyya community faces systematic discrimination and persecution in the country. They were declared non-Muslim by Pakistan’s Parliament in 1974 and banned from calling themselves Muslims a decade later. They are prohibited from preaching and traveling to Saudi Arabia for pilgrimage.
Despite their estimated population of around a million, the Ahmadis, like other minorities in Pakistan, often fall victim to harassment and violence by extremist elements. With notorious Blasphemy law, persecution and strong presence of extremist elements clearly show that Pakistan is hell for minorities.