Lahore, Mar 4 (PTI) A minority Ahmadi community member was shot dead in Punjab province of Pakistan on Monday and police were investigating if he was killed because of his faith.
Tahir Iqbal, 53, was on a morning walk near his residence in Chak-84 Hasilpur, Bahawalpur, some 400 km from Lahore, when two unidentified men intercepted him and opened fire on him, killing him on the spot.
The attackers managed to flee on the bike,” police official concerned Syed Abbas said and added investigation has been launched as to whether Iqbal was shot dead for his faith or some other reason.
The victim was a local president of the Ahmadi community.
“Iqbal lost his life to the extremism as he had no enmity with anyone. There has been a wave of hatred against the Ahmadi community in Pakistan as extremist elements term the Ahmadis liable to death,” Jamaat-i-Ahmadiyya Pakistan official Amir Mahmood told PTI.
He said the Ahmadi community requests the authorities concerned to take appropriate action otherwise this hatred may result in damage beyond repair.
“Swift action is needed to be taken and we as members of the minority community demand that the culprits involved in this heinous act should be punished according to the law and the state must act so that these atrocities can come to a halt,” he said.
Last year, over 40 worship places of the Ahmadi minority community came under attack in the country mostly by the radical Islamists — Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) – activists.
Minorities, especially Ahmadis, are very vulnerable in Pakistan and they are often targeted by religious extremists. PTI MZ AMS AKJ AMS
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