On 5th December 2016, 16 fully armed policemen and 12 plain clothed officers in three police vehicles forcefully entered the Tahrik Jadid (an administrative body of the Ahmadiyya community overseeing overseas missions, building mosques, and publishing literature and the Holy Quran in various languages) compound in Rabwah, Pakistan.
Cases have been filed against the 4 Ahmadis arrested and 5 other members of the community under anti-Ahmadi laws and anti-terrorism laws.
An appeal letter is being coordinated at the Stop The Persecution website, here, and we add our request for all concerned with religious freedom to add their signature.
The letter details the history to this raid: “This brazen assault by state security forces on the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community’s headquarters is beyond the pale. Ahmadi Muslims are peaceful, law-abiding citizens of Pakistan who have been sorely persecuted and marginalized for decades. Sectarian violence has led to the deaths of over 300 Ahmadi Muslims, and the Government has facilitated enforcement of repressive anti-Ahmadi and anti-blasphemy laws. We believe that the raid was ordered by the highest officials in the Punjab provincial government.”
