Pakistan: Police destroy tombstones of 17 graves belonging to persecuted Ahmadi community

Under pressure from a radical Islamist party, police in Pakistan reportedly demolished the tombstones of 17 graves belonging to the Ahmadi minority community in Punjab province on Saturday, marking the second such incident this week

Lahore: Police in Pakistan, under pressure from a radical Islamist party, allegedly destroyed the tombstones of 17 graves of the minority Ahmadi community in the Punjab province on Saturday, the second such incident this week. The incident took place in Bahawalpur, some 400 km from Lahore, the provincial capital.

According to the Jamaat-e-Ahmadiyya Pakistan, under the pressure of Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), Punjab Police desecrated at least 17 graves in a graveyard of the Ahmadi community at Basti Shukrani, in Bahawalpur district. “The TLP activists had been threatening the Ahmadi community and pressuring police to demolish the tombstones of Ahmadi graves. The Ahmadi community living there is feeling vulnerable because of the law enforcers' support to the illegal demand of extremists," Jamaat-e-Ahmadiyya Pakistan said in a statement on Saturday.