Hate violence: Ahmadi leader gunned down in Karachi

Second killing of an Ahmadi in the city and eleventh in Pakistan this year.


Samia Malik July 20, 2012
Hate violence: Ahmadi leader gunned down in Karachi

KARACHI:


An Ahmadi leader was gunned down in Karachi on Thursday morning.


Mukarram Naeem Ahmed Gondal, president of Jamaat Ahmadiyya’s Orangi Town chapter, was shot by two men on a motorbike as he was leaving his residence for work.

Gondal, 52, was working as an assistant director for the State Bank of Pakistan. He leaves behind his wife among the bereaved.

SITE Police Station SHO Rao Rafique told The Express Tribune that an FIR has been lodged by the police and the investigations are underway. He added that since the FIR was filed against unidentified persons, they have yet to ascertain the reasons behind the killing. Rafique said the deceased was a resident of Meteroville SITE and confirmed he was shot once by the two assailants.

A committee member of the Sadr Anjuman Ahmaddiya Rabwah Pakistan, requesting anonymity, told The Express Tribune that he was serving as the president of the Jamaat’s Orangi Town chapter for the past 11 years.

“He had no enemies and was very well respected,” he said.

The incident is the second killing of an Ahmadi in Karachi and the eleventh in the country so far this year. Earlier in January, Ahsan Kamal was gunned down in Manzoor Colony.

There have also been various other attacks on Ahmadis in the city, where the victims were able to escape death. Muhammad Akram Bhatti was a victim of one such attack, which left him severely injured.

“This state of fear has made living difficult for us,” said Mukarram Saleemuddin, a Jamaat Ahmadiyya spokesperson. He added that wall chalking inciting religious hatred were cropping up in various localities as well.

According to the Jamaat committee member, there are about 700 to 800 Ahmadis living in Orangi Town who, he claims, are being watched whenever they congregate at their place of worship. There is only one place of worship for the community in the township, he added. He blamed Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi – militant outfits who allegedly have a hold in the area – for a role “in the community’s persecution”.

The committee member said neither law enforcement agencies nor the city’s two dominant political parties – namely Muttahida Qaumi Movement and Pakistan Peoples Party – are any help when it comes to their protection.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 20th, 2012.

COMMENTS (32)

Prabhjyot Singh Madan | 12 years ago | Reply

@Ahmadi Muslim: Please ask this question at the grave of zafarullah Khan, a proud qadiani lord. He requested jinnah to come back from England. Abdus salam, the first Pakistani Nobel award winner, please don't mention muslim. In India, there are lots of qadiani who have no idea that they are not accepted as Muslims in Pakistan. They are Muslims under law in India. A stupid petitioner requested judicial court to declare them non Muslim, the judge rejected the petition and ask the person to pay 10000 rupees for wasting courts time. Thank you

To-be Ahmadi (Inshallah) | 12 years ago | Reply

What I have witnessed through my life is that religious leaders have always been the hypocrites who create miscreants by brainwashing them in the name of religion. Several innocents were killed in karachi that day, but mentioning this incident is important for two reasons; first, it was a targeted minority persecution and second the victim was an Ahmadi. Contrary to christians and hindus, the Ahmadis are struggling for religious identity along with religious rights in Pakistan. They are persecuted not because of hatred as an unbeliever, but due to the aversion for calling themselves Muslims. Not by one community/sect but by the whole Muslim community (in the world).

So why such hate towards them? Because they deny all other sects/religions and re-establish the true faith, unlike hypocrites who compromise over facts/beliefs to accommodate themselves. It doesn't mean that other religions are wrong altogether, but that they are more corrupted than pure. My Islamiat teacher (who is a Sunni) once lectured that Prophet (PBUH) first removed all wrong believes from among the Quraish before instilling in them the true teachings. But when Ahmadis talk for the same, the whole Muslim community gets enraged.

@Wajahat Ex-Ahmedi: "Accepting Muhammad ( Ssw) as last prophet is one of the basic tenant of Islam." It certainly is important to accept as last prophet (which for you info Ahmadis do believe in..just not in the material sense as you do) but the Prophet himself in his words qualified every human as Muslim who recites qalimah. Your comment suggests you are about to create a new qalimah!!

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