The Ahmadiyya Community denounces a new murder of an Ahmadi in Pakistan

The Ahmadiyya Community has issued an official statement again denouncing attacks against one of its members in Pakistan. In this case, it details another brutal stabbing and murder of an Ahmadi in the village of L-Plot, in the Okara district of Pakistan.  

Another brutal stabbing and murder of an Ahmadi Muslim in the village of L-Plot in the Okara district of Pakistan. 

It is with great sorrow that we convey to you the terrible news of the brutal stabbing and murder of Mr. Abdus Salam resident of L-Plot locality, Okara District in Pakistan. 

On 17 May 2022, at 17:45, when Abdus Salam was leaving his house to run some errands, he was stabbed to death by a young man named Ali Raza in a religiously motivated attack. The assailant, Ali Raza, is a student at the local madrassa. He fled the scene and is still at large. The deceased was the sole breadwinner of his family and leaves behind a widow and three young children aged 6, 4 and 1. 

We have been witnessing a marked increase in these religious hate attacks against Muslim Ahmadis residing in Pakistan. Their government and law enforcement agencies are failing to protect members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community and to curb incitement to religious communal hatred. This relentless persecution shows the utter disregard for the human rights of our Community in Pakistan and generates a deep sense of insecurity among our faithful.  

Murders of Ahmadis have become the norm in Pakistan, and the government takes little notice. Threats and attempts to assassinate Ahmadis have increased in all parts of Pakistan. 

We keep the International Community informed in the hope that it will take a stern approach to these horrific acts of barbarism in Pakistan and ensure the safety of the peaceful members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in that country. 

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 Ahmadiyya Community around the world and called on nations to redouble their efforts to end the ongoing persecution of the Ahmadis. 

We therefore urge our authorities in Spain to call on the Government of Pakistan to live up to its responsibility to provide effective protection and freedom of religious practice to the Ahmadis, to bring the perpetrators of these heinous attacks to justice and to bring its laws and practices into line with international standards, as set out in Article 20 of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Articles 2 and 18, and Articles 25 and 26 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.