Ahmadi Muslim community says its under pressure in Pakistan

Pakistan’s Ahmadi religious minority has said that many of its graves sites are being desecrated by police in the Muslim-majority, a member of a minority community said.

According to the source, the incident occurred after Prime Minister Imran Khan warned citizens that any person targeting the country’s minorities would be strictly punished.

“This was done at the behest of mullahs (clerics). The Ahmadis are not even safe in their graves in Pakistan,” said Saleemuddin, spokesperson of the Jamaat Ahmadiyya, an organisation representing the Ahmadis community in Pakistan said.

Saleemuddin said Prime Minister Khan of his warning that his government would take harsh measures against those involved in minority violence.

”They (Ahmadis) are not allowed to live in peace. Let them rest in their graves in peace. Desecration of Ahmadi graves is un-Islamic and inhuman. Please do something; perhaps, issue an order against the desecration of graves?” senior journalist and author Mehr Tarar tweeted.

The Ahmadis, an Islamic revival or messianic movement, are recognised as non-Muslim religious minorities in Pakistan. They are forbidden to preach and travel to Saudi Arabia for the annual hajj pilgrimage.

Non-Muslims make up less than 5% of Pakistan’s 220 million people. According to the country’s latest census, Hindus and Christians are the two biggest minority groups, although Ahmadis, Sikhs, and Parsis (Zoroastrians) are also among the largest religious minorities in Pakistan.

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