On 28 February, 22 Ahmadi Muslims were arrested in Daska, District Sialkot, for gathering in their local mosque. This marks one of the largest mass arrests of Ahmadi Muslims in a single incident in recent years, highlighting a new and alarming escalation in the state-backed persecution of Ahmadi Muslims in Pakistan. The arrests were carried out under pressure from religious extremist groups who instigated police action. Among those detained were children as young as 11 years old. This incident underscores the increasing impunity with which state authorities are enabling religious persecution of Ahmadi Muslims.
Shortly after Friday prayers began, a mob of religious extremists assembled outside, chanting inflammatory slogans. Fearing violence, Ahmadi Muslims called the police emergency helpline for protection. Instead of dispersing the mob, police arrested 22 members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community and transferred them to City Police Station Daska. Religious extremist groups later gathered outside the police station, demanding criminal charges against the detainees. Acting under apparent pressure from these groups, law enforcement registered formal cases against the arrested Ahmadi Muslims.
Extremist mob outside the police station.
This mass arrest is part of a broader crackdown on Ahmadi Muslims across Pakistan, which has intensified in 2025. On the same day in Sargodha, police registered a case against 23 Ahmadi Muslims in Bhagtanwala for gathering for Friday prayers, though no arrests have been made so far. Last month, an Ahmadi Muslim woman, Bushra Abid, was arrested in Gujranwala on a fabricated charge. In Gujranwala, authorities destroyed the minarets of a 120-year-old Ahmadi Muslim Mosque under extremist pressure. When local Ahmadi Muslims sought legal justification for this act, police arrested five Ahmadi Muslims and four other residents, releasing them only after the demolition was completed. In 2025 alone, 91 Ahmadi Muslim graves have been desecrated, while police have facilitated the destruction of minarets and prayer niches in five Ahmadi Muslim Mosques.
This incident reflects the growing influence of extremist groups over state institutions in Pakistan, effectively weaponising the legal system against Ahmadi Muslims. The arrests in Daska violate Pakistan’s Constitution, which guarantees freedom of religion, as well as international human rights treaties, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Instead of protecting Ahmadi Muslims from an extremist mob, police arrested them, demonstrating the extent to which law enforcement is enabling persecution rather than upholding the rule of law.
The targeting of peaceful worshippers, including minors, for gathering in a private space demonstrates the extent of extremist infiltration into law enforcement and the judiciary.
Source: Ahmadiyya Muslim Community UK.