Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Pakistan Ahmadi prayer center attacked, police arrests local Ahmadis for ‘desecrating’ Quran amid rampage

Ahmadiyya Times
“We claim to be Muslims and the Holy Qur'ān is a holy book for all Muslim.No Ahmadī will ever do such a thing and all such accusations are always total lies, period.”
An Ahmadiyya prayer center was attacked yesterday and a local Ahmadī leader injured when a charged crowd reacted to rumors that a young child was beaten by two Ahmadi men on account of the youngster carrying a copy of the Holy Qur'ān.
According to a report carried by Daily Dawn, an English daily published from Karachi, Pakistan, activists of religious parties gathered residents from various parts of Tando Allahyar city near Hyderabad, and “attacked the home-cum-worship place of a man belonging to the Ahmedi community for his involvement in the alleged sacrilege.”
The crowed “went on the rampage in the worship place on the ground floor” while Tahir Ahmed “took refuge on the upper floor, where his family lived,” the newspaper reported.
The police and Rangers arrived in large numbers, the report said, and they arrested Tahir Ahmed while the crowd threw stones at the suspect and injured him.
Police took Ahmad and an unidentified man to the local police station where they were booked on blasphemy and other charges under Sections 295-b, 337-A-1 and F-1 of Pakistan’s criminal code.
The protesters burnt tires and fired shot in the air, forcing local business to shut down.
The situation, according to Daily Dawn, was tense till late in the night in Tando Allahyar.
Speaking to Daily Dawn, Tando Allahyar Deputy Superintendent Police, Noor Mohammad Marri, said that according to Tahir Ahmed’s wife, the young accuser and their son had fought over some petty matter in the afternoon.
Also, according to Daily Dawn’s own sources, “it was rumoured that some people wanted to grab Tahir’s house.”
Speaking to Ahmadiyya Times, a local Ahmadī (name withheld) rubbished the claim that an Ahmadī attempted to desecrate the Holy Qur'ān. “We claim to be Muslims and the Holy Qur'ān is a holy book for all Muslim.”
“No Ahmadī will ever do such a thing and all such accusations are always total lies, period.”
An official statement is awaited from the Ahmadiyya community in Pakistan.

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