London, Sep 26 (IANS) A leading international human rights organisation on Saturday expressed grave concern over escalating violence against the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Pakistan, saying Ahmadis continue to face discrimination, intimidation, restrictions on their religious practices and hate campaigns across the country.

Highlighting the atrocities against Ahmadis, the UK-based International Human Rights Committee (IHRC) said that an Ahmadi father and his son were shot by unidentified assailants in Sargodha city of Pakistan’s Punjab province. It said that during the attack on the late evening of September 19, the father sustained three to four gunshot wounds, including serious injuries to his jaw and neck area, while his son suffered a gunshot injury to his arm.

The rights body noted that the shooting came against the backdrop of an increasingly hostile environment for the community, including an anti-Ahmadi propaganda campaign documented across Sargodha.

It stated that earlier in September, banners and posters carrying openly hostile anti-Ahmadi messaging were reported and documented in public spaces across the city, including material bearing slogans such as “We Hate Qadianiat” (a religious slur).

The IHRC warned that widespread public display of such rhetoric was fueling an increasingly hostile environment for an already vulnerable religious community.

“The sequence of events in Sargodha is deeply concerning. Public anti-Ahmadi propaganda has appeared across the city. Members of the community have reportedly faced threats. Now an Ahmadi father and son have been shot while returning home. These developments require an urgent and effective response from the authorities,” the rights body stated.

“When inflammatory rhetoric and threats against a religious community are allowed to proliferate without effective intervention, there is a serious risk that an already hostile environment will deteriorate further. No individual should have to fear being attacked because of their religious identity,” it added.

The IHRC called on the government of Pakistan to ensure effective protection for Ahmadis facing credible threats and uphold the fundamental rights and security of all citizens irrespective of religion or belief.

It further urged the United Nations, international human rights mechanisms, diplomatic missions and international civil society organisations to closely monitor the deteriorating situation facing Ahmadis in Pakistan and raise these incidents with the Pakistani authorities.

Stressing that events unfolding in Sargodha demand urgent attention, the rights body said, “A community should not have to wait for further bloodshed before credible threats and incitement to violence are taken seriously.”

--IANS

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