A mob of over 100 Muslim hardliners from Tahreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), accompanied by 7 policemen including Inspector Javed of Ghooghiat Police Station, vandalized and desecrated Ahmadiyya Mosque in Ghooghial city in Sargodha district of Pakistan’s Punjab province.
The attack by TLP members on the 118-year-old Mosque (April 16, 2300 hrs – PST) led to the demolition of its minarets and domes.
According to witnesses, before vandalising the mosque, the TLP members shouted slogans against Ahmadiyyas for continued building of their place of worship on the design based on Mosques, with minarets and domes. They also raised slogans warning Ahmadiyyas to abide by their rules or face actions under the blasphemy laws of Pakistan.
Some of the attackers also asked the Ahmadiyyas to leave Pakistan for good or face similar actions across Pakistan.
The witnesses also said that the police remained mute spectators during the attack and did not respond to cries of help from the three elderly Mosque residents, who somehow managed to escape the attack.
The persecution of the Ahmadiyya community has been on the rise in different areas of Pakistan for some time now. A fact-finding mission led by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has underscored an alarming uptick in the persecution of members of the Ahmadiyya community in Gujranwala and surrounding areas — specifically, the desecration of their graves, the destruction of minarets at Ahmadi sites of worship, and First Information Reports (FIRs) filed against community members for carrying out ritual animal sacrifice on Eid. Justice Tasadduq Hussain Jilani in his 2014 ruling has termed the attack and demolition of Ahmadiyya Mosques as a blatant violation of Pakistan’s constitution and decision.