Amid the persisting wave of intolerance towards the country’s religious minorities, a leader of the hardliner Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) has gone viral for inciting violence against Ahmadis, especially pregnant women belonging to the vulnerable community.
As per the details, the video showed Labbaik cleric Muhammad Naeem Chatta Qadri delivering a sermon, telling his followers to actively carry out attacks against members of the Ahmadiyya community with a focus on pregnant women so as to stop them from giving birth.
“We are the descendants of Mahmud of Ghaznavi,” the cleric from Punjab’s Mandi Bahauddin city can be heard as saying, adding that Ghaznavi was “a lionheart of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) and his horse’s galloping sound used to cause miscarriages of Hindu women”.
The video also showed him telling the audience to “raise the slogan of finality of prophethood with such ferocity that it caused Ahmadi women to lose their unborn child in their womb”.
“Such a blasphemer should not be born, and those that are born we will not leave them alive,” he said while referring to members of the Ahmadiyya community.
WATCH VIDEO
TLP sets another record of low.
Now targeting Pregnant Ahmadi ladies pic.twitter.com/UI8c4HYYQN— Ali Raza (@shezanmango) September 30, 2022
In the video, the cleric, who is reportedly TLP’s district head in the area, also goes on to address law enforcement agencies, including the district police officer and commissioner.
AHMADIS IN PAKISTAN
An estimated four million Ahmadis live in Pakistan and face widespread abuse and discrimination.
Incidents of violent attacks besides discrimination against members of the community make headlines every now and then.
Qadri’s video comes days after a religiously charged statement by Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Parvez Elahi drew widespread criticism for targeting the Ahmadi community.
Mainstream Pakistani Muslims consider Ahmadis as heretics because of their belief that their founder Mirza Ghulam Ahmad was a prophesized messiah.
In 1984, President General Zia Ul Haq promulgated Ordinance XX introducing Ahmadiyya-specific laws to prohibit Ahmadis from indulging in “anti-Islamic activities” by restricting them from referring to themselves as Muslims or preaching their belief.
The Ahmadiyya population in Pakistan has declined over almost two decades, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics report on the sixth Population and Housing Census-2017, released last year.
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