Ahmadi doctor shot dead at clinic in Pakistan’s Punjab province

A doctor belonging to the minority Ahmadi sect in Pakistan’s Punjab province was shot dead at his clinic by unidentified gunmen because of his faith, police said on July 28.

According to police, Dr Zakaur Rehman, in his 50s, was at his dental clinic in Lalamsa, Gujarat, about 200 km from Lahore, when two unidentified motorbike riders arrived and opened fire on the doctor, killing him on the spot and fleeing.

The victim’s family said the killer bore no ill will towards anyone and the killing appeared to have been motivated by religious motives. He is survived by his wife, one son and three daughters.

The Pakistan Ahmadiyya Association announced that Dr Rehman was a member of its Gujarat chapter.

Amir Mahmood, a leader of Pakistan’s Ahmadiyya Association, condemned Dr Rehman’s killing and said two other Ahmadis, Ghulam Sarwar and Rahat Ahmad Bajwa, were shot dead in Punjab province last month because of their faith.

He said the recent decision of the Pakistan Supreme Court to grant bail to Ahmadi defendants had further intensified the hate campaign against Ahmadis.

“Supreme Court judges have also been targeted in this hate campaign. The identity of those running the campaign is no secret. Why is the government not taking action against them,” he questioned.

Mahmoud said those instigating these hate campaigns and violence must be brought to justice and only then can these faith-based killings hopefully come to an end.

He also demanded an end to this hate campaign against Ahmadiyyas.

Pakistan’s parliament declared Ahmadis non-Muslim in 1974. A decade later, they were banned from calling themselves Muslims. They are also barred from preaching or traveling to Saudi Arabia for the pilgrimage.

According to data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics in 2021, 96.47% of the country’s population is Muslim, followed by Hindus at 2.14%, Christians at 1.27%, Ahmadi Muslims at 0.09%, and others at 0.02%.

In Pakistan, a conservative Muslim-majority country, minorities often complain of harassment by extremists.