Police demolish arches of Ahmadiyya worship place in Lahore

Around 15-20 policemen entered the place of worship, says community spokesperson

LAHORE:

Police demolished the arches of an Ahmadiyya place of worship in the Shahdara Town area of Lahore in contravention of orders passed by the provincial high court, claimed the spokesperson of the community.

The Lahore High Court (LHC) had issued orders that all places of worship of the religious minority community, built before the 1984 law, should not be demolished or altered, added the spokesperson.

"Despite showing the court order, the Lahore police did not refrain from vandalising the place of worship and destroying its arches," he stated further.

The community spokesperson further claimed that around 15-20 policemen entered the place of worship and demanded that the community members themselves demolish the arches.

When informed of the earlier LHC order, police personnel reportedly destroyed the arches themselves despite a protest from members of the Ahmadiyya community.

Read After TLP ‘threats’, police demolish minarets of Ahmadi worship place in Jhelum

Earlier this year in July, police officials in Punjab’s Jhelum district demolished minarets at another Ahmadiyya worship place, declaring it illegal. The action was taken following threats issued by the local leadership of Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP).

According to a spokesperson for the Ahmadiyya community, on the night of July 14 and 15, the police in Kala Gujaran, Jhelum district, razed the minarets of the Ahmadiyya worship place.

Local TLP leader Asim Ashfaq Rizvi had threatened the District Police Officer (DPO) of Jhelum that if the administration did not demolish the minarets by the 10th of Muharram, then they would gather people and do it themselves.