Friday, December 16, 2016

Pakistan: HRCP demands probe into assault on Ahmadi worship place


“The police arrived and sealed the building, which has been a practice employed in the past as well. In short, the Ahmadi community has lost their place of worship."

Times of Ahmad | News Watch | US Desk
Source/Credit: Samaa TV News
By  Samaa Web Desk | December 14, 2016

Lahore, December 14: The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has expressed grave concern over the deteriorating treatment of Ahmadi citizens both at the hands of those tasked with security as well as the zealots. It has demanded a thorough investigation into a raid in Rabwah and attack on an Ahmadi worship place in Chakwal.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, the Commission said: “HRCP must voice serious concern over the assault on an Ahmadi worship place by a mob in Chakwal and over the manner of an apparently unlawful raid by Punjab Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) on the offices of a publication for the Ahmadi community in Rabwah on December 5.

“The CTD raid on the offices of the Ahmadi publication in Rabwah appears to be a violation of a Lahore High Court (LHC) order directing that “no coercive measures shall be adopted against the petitioner”. As far as HRCP could gather, the matter is sub judice and no new order has been made.

“From reports received, it appears that the CTD did not have any warrants for the raid and certainly did not show, any despite repeated requests. They took away laptop and desktop computers, mobile phones, office papers and books, for which they gave no receipt. There was no reason to jostle and rough up four people who were arrested. It is for the CTD and the provincial authorities to explain why a raid against peaceful, unarmed citizens needed to be heavy-handed and why were those taken into custody were mistreated.

“The script for the attack on the Ahmadi worship place in Chakwal is unfortunately not very new. A huge mob surrounded the worship place with worshippers inside, who managed to leave the premises, which was then set on fire and furniture destroyed. One of the worshippers died of a heart attack.

“The police arrived and sealed the building, which has been a practice employed in the past as well. In short, the Ahmadi community has lost their place of worship.

“It is hugely distressing that police were not able to protect the worship place. We must stress that it is unacceptable for the police practice of dispersing the mob to be the end of action against the trouble-makers.

“Both incidents constitute a failure on the part of the authorities to ensure protection of citizens’ rights enshrined in the constitution and under international human rights law. It is doubly frustrating when such denial occurs at the hands of agents of the state. HRCP demands a full inquiry into the circumstance of the raid at Rabwah and ascertain whether the heavy-handed tactics employed were part of the directions from above or at the initiative of the raiding party itself.

“A separate probe must look closely into the mob attack on the Chakwal worship place and determine what prompted the assault and what could have led to a conclusion that would not have deprived the Ahmadis of one more place of worship.”

https://www.samaa.tv/pakistan/2016/12/hrcp-demands-probe-into-assault-on-ahmadi-worship-place/


Read original post here: Pakistan: HRCP demands probe into assault on Ahmadi worship place


This content-post is archived for backup and to keep archived records of any news Islam Ahmadiyya. The views expressed by the author and source of this news archive do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of Times of Ahmad. Times of Ahmad is not an organ of the Ahmadiyya Muslim community, nor in any way associated with any of the community's official websites.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Thank you for your comments. Any comments irrelevant to the post's subject matter, containing abuses, and/or vulgar language will not be approved.

Top read stories during last 7 days

Disclaimer!

THE TIMES OF AHMAD is NOT an organ of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, nor in any way associated with any of the community's official websites. Times of Ahmad is an independently run and privately managed news / contents archival website; and does not claim to speak for or represent the official views of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. The Times of Ahmad assumes full responsibility for the contents of its web pages. The views expressed by the authors and sources of the news archives do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Times of Ahmad. All rights associated with any contents archived / stored on this website remain the property of the original owners.