FIR against over 50 Ahmadis for 'offering Friday prayers' in Pakistan's Punjab

Lahore: An FIR was registered against more than 50 members of the minority Ahmadi community under blasphemy laws in Punjab province of Pakistan for offering "Friday prayers" even as a radical Islamist party besieged their worship places in several cities.

They were booked under the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) for "insulting a religion or religious beliefs of any class of people, referring to themselves as Muslims and referring to their faith as Islam".

The police booked 50 Ahmadis and nominated eight others on the complaint of Muhammad Amanullah who alleged they were offering Friday prayers like that of Muslims, a practice banned for them under the law, police officer Zahid Pervez told PTI.

Radical Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) besieged several worship places of Ahmadis in Punjab on Friday to stop them from offering prayers.

The Jamaat-e-Ahmadiyya Pakistan (JAP) said Ahmadis were assaulted by extremists during Friday prayers in Faisalabad.

"The extremists also besieged Ahmadi places of worship in Kartarpur, Gujrat and Sialkot districts," the JAP said.

It added that extremist groups over the past month tried to prevent Ahmadis from offering Friday prayers at 33 different locations.

"The religious extremists' objective is to obstruct Ahmadis from performing their religious rites and to have their places of worship sealed," it said.

It said preventing individuals from practising their faith was a clear violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 20 of the Constitution of Pakistan.

"The government must ensure the safety of Ahmadis and take legal action against extremist elements," JAP spokesperson Aamir Mahmood said.

"How does registering baseless cases against Ahmadis at the behest of an extremist group serve the nation's interests?" he questioned.

He demanded these baseless cases be dismissed and that all innocent Ahmadis be released immediately.