Worship place: It no longer resembles a mosque

Ahmadi worship place Baitul Hamd awaits police approval of the modification.


Rana Tanveer May 04, 2012

LAHORE:


Two days after being told by Misri Shah police to ‘cover up’ architectural elements that made an Ahmedi worship place resemble a mosque, the administration has installed a hoarding behind the chhatri (flattened dome) at the entrance.


Two people had filed an application with the police, requesting that they register an FIR against the Ahmedis under the blasphemy laws – 298-C and 295-B of the Pakistan Penal Code – “for depicting themselves as Muslims”.

The police on Wednesday had removed some tiles with the Kalma and Quranic verses from the building entrance. They had planned on tearing down the flattened dome as well but agreed to give Baitul Hamd administration a couple of days to ensure that any resemblance to a mosque was removed.

Fazal Ahmed, a member of the administration committee, told The Express Tribune that though they had tried their best to make sure that the worship place’s entrance does not look like that of a mosque, it remained to be seen if the complainants and the police would be satisfied. “They might still object and demand that the flattened dome be removed altogether.”

According to Ahmed, the police were expected to visit the site on Friday night.

The administrator remarked that the tiles carrying Quranic verses had been shattered into pieces while being removed. It is strange, he said, that the complainants had not objected to the “desecration of the holy words”. “They were scared,” said Ahmed, “we picked up the broken tiles and have saved them to preserve their sanctity.”

He said that while neighbours had not created a problem for them, they hadn’t stood up for them either.

Malik Yasin, a Sultanpura resident who one of the negotiators, said they had tried their best to ensure that there was no confrontation between the complainant and their Ahmedi neighbours.

Misri Shah SHO Mudassirullah Khan told The Express Tribune that he would visit the site on Friday night or Saturday morning. He described the visit as a “formality”. “The issue has been resolved,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 5th, 2012.

You can read part 1 of this report here.

COMMENTS (98)

R.I.P | 11 years ago | Reply Its a normal behavior. Christians did it in Spain when they re-concurred it from Muslims Sikh and Hindu did it in India after partition and still doing in Kashmir. Taliban doing it in Pakistan. and Hindus did it to BABRI mosque in India. I believe that that there is a rule of law in Islamic Republic of Pakistan and that law is Anti Ahmadiya Law. No one will talk about drugs narcotics women trafficking bribery prostitution rape murder many other crimes forbidden by law. I think its legal by Pakistan's law. because no mullah ever rallied against any of these crime.
SM | 11 years ago | Reply

@kilo: They are also not allowed in Saudi arabia, btw.

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