LAHORE: On January 16, 2025, an Ahmadi place of worship located in Mohalla Chaudhryan, in Daska, District Sialkot, was demolished under the guise of illegal encroachments. The said place of worship was built by the first Foreign Minister of Pakistan, Chaudhry Sir Muhammad Zafarullah Khan, and was constructed before Partition. The Ahmadiyya Baitul Zikr was reportedly demolished by the administration.
According to details, the administration of Daska city had issued notices to the owners of commercial and residential buildings on different routes and had asked them to remove the encroachments within two days. These steps were being taken because of traffic issues in the Daska city area. The notice was also sent to the Ahmadiyya Bait-ul-Zikr and directions were given that around 13 feet of illegal encroachment must be removed. The Ahmadis decided that the community should remove the excess portion on its own and make a wall, along with some other security arrangements. The employees of the municipality had earlier arrived and had pointed it out, according to which the front wall was 13 feet high on one side and 9 feet high on the other side.
The administration had issued the notice on January 14 and accordingly a wall was constructed on the inner side on January 15.
The Assistant Commissioner was contacted as well as others in the administration, however, the community members were not given access to them nor did they come forward themselves. Continuing the operation, the administration demolished the place of worship completely.
The operation was not strictly administrative, as during the entire time, some people present there were chanting slogans of ‘Tajdar Khatm-e-Nabuwwat’ and ‘Khatm-e-Nabuwwat Zindabad’.
“It is clear that using the illegal encroachments as an excuse, the administration targeted and demolished the Ahmadiyya place of worship,” said Amir Mehmood, spokesperson of the Ahmadiyya community. “The government administration’s targeting of Ahmadis while exceeding its authority is highly condemnable.”
Around 32 Ahmadis live around the place of worship which was built before partition. the destruction of the building also shows violation of the Lahore High Court order which directed that no place of worship older than 1984 could be demolished by the State. However such incidents have taken place many times.
Source – voicepk.net, January 17, 2024.
