Question of belief: SHO asked not to harass Ahamdis

Petitioners claim they are being forced to change residence because of threats.

LAHORE:

An additional district and sessions judge on Tuesday directed the Sabzazar station house officer (SHO) not to harass eight citizens apparently on account of their being Ahmadis

The petitioners submitted that the police officer, on the behest of another respondent, a prayer leader at Jamia Masjid Anwaar-i-Madina, had been threatening them with dire consequences for being Ahmadi. One of the petitioners said the prayer leader had sent him a threatening letter on February 25, 2012, asking him to leave the area. The petitioner said that he and other Ahmadis had been forced to change their residence as a result of the threats.

They said that they had tried to reason with the prayer leader and requested him to stop but the respondent prayer leader had refused. They said that notables of the area had also asked the respondent to stop the harassment but he was not willing to listen to anyone.

They said that in 2012 they had lodged a case under Section 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) with Sabzazar police station against the prayer leader but no action was taken against him and the SHO had been harassing the Ahmadis.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 10^th, 2014.