Mob vandalises Ahmadi place of worship at Sargodha in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: A mob stormed a place of worship belonging to the Ahmadi community in Sargodha district of Pakistan Punjab and demolished parts of it, media reports said.

According to Amir Mehmood, a spokesperson for the community, local police personnel were present during the incident but did not try to prevent the angry crowd, The Express Tribune reported.

District police officer (DPO) Faisal Kamran said that a case has been registered against the attackers after the police received a plea in the matter. He added that the police would ensure strict implementation of the law.

The community's place of worship was built in 1905 at Ghoghyat village in Sargodha and no untoward incident had occurred to date, The Express Tribune reported.

Local police maintained that at around 11 p.m. on April 16, approximately 200 to 250 people arrived outside the place of worship. Some members of the mob had their faces covered and were sloganeering, the police said.

A few agitators went to the roof and desecrated parts of the building, including the dome, The Express Tribune reported.

The Ahmadi spokesperson lamented that the "saddest thing" was that the place of worship was desecrated in the presence of the police. He said the worship place was "very old" and the relations between Ahmadis and other local residents had always been exemplary.

He maintained that the community was requesting the police to take legal action against the attackers, but feared that their plea would not be heeded and no action would be taken.

Before this incident, Imam Qari Khalilur Rahman of the local mosque in Ghoghyat had informed the police that the children inside the Ahmadi place of worship were being taught the Quran, which they could not legally do, The Express Tribune reported.

A spokesperson for the Sargodha district administration said that it was a sensitive matter that had already been discussed in the district peace committee meeting.

The committee had unanimously approved the installation of a board outside the place of worship which indicated that the site was an Ahmadi place of worship.