A doctor belonging to the minority Ahmadi community was shot dead at his clinic by unidentified gunmen allegedly for his faith in Pakistan's Punjab province, police said on July 28.
Dr. Zakaur Rehman, who was in his 50s, was present at his dental clinic located in Lala Musa, Gujrat, some 200km from Lahore, when two unknown motorcyclists arrived there and opened fire on him, killing him on the spot and fled, police said.
The family of the victim said he had no enmity with anyone and the killing appears to be faith-driven. He is survived by his wife, a son and three daughters.
The Jamaat-e-Ahmadiyya Pakistan said that Dr. Rehman was its office bearer of Gujrat chapter.
Jamaat-e-Ahmadiyya Pakistan official Amir Mahmood condemned the murder of Dr Rehman, saying two other Ahmadis — Ghulam Sarwar and Rahat Ahmad Bajwa — were shot dead for their faith in Punjab last month.
He said that a recent decision by the Supreme Court of Pakistan to grant bail to an Ahmadi accused has further intensified the hate campaign against the Ahmadis.
"The judges of the Supreme Court are also being targeted in this hate campaign. The identity of the ones running these campaigns is no secret. Why is the government not taking any action against them?" he asked.
Mahmood said the instigators of these hate campaigns and violence should be brought to justice and only then we may hope that these faith-based killings are stopped.
He also has demanded an end to this hate campaign against the Ahmadiyya community.
Pakistan's Parliament in 1974 declared the Ahmadi community as non-Muslims. A decade later, they were banned from calling themselves Muslims. They are banned from preaching and from travelling to Saudi Arabia for pilgrimage.
According to data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics in 2021, there are 96.47% Muslims in the country, followed by 2.14% Hindus, 1.27% Christians, 0.09% Ahmadi Muslims and 0.02% others.
The minorities in conservative Muslim-majoriy Pakistan often complain of harassment by the extremists.
Published - July 28, 2024 10:51 pm IST
