At least 95 killed in terror attacks on Ahmadis in Lahore

by rumana husain | May 28, 2010 at 08:39 am

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A massacre of scores of people belonging to the Ahmedi sect took place in Lahore this afternoon. This sect, which was declared as a religious minority in 1974 by the then prime minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, has its origin in the late 19th century in British India. Regarded heretical by conservative Muslims, the hatred towards the Ahmedis have been encouraged and incited by a small group of the Sunni Muslim majority of the country.

In one of the deadliest coordinated attacks, two groups of terrorists targeted mosques at heavily-congested Garhi Shahu and the posh Model Town area at around 1.45 pm local time when worshippers were about to start the prayers.

Reports received from different hospitals put the death toll at "around 80", District Administration Chief Sajjad Bhutta told reporters.

Other officials said nearly 100 people were injured, some of them seriously.

How awful - thank you for posting this news, I hadn't heard about this.

Thanks for posting this, Rumana. For those of us who aren't familiar with the Ahmadi, BBC has a backgrounder.

What a sad world we live in at times. Slaughter innocent people because we do not agree with them.:-(

intolerance all around!

What is it with Muslims constantly resorting to violence and terrorism? Where are the self-policing and cries of disgrace for such behavior?

The rise of religious fanaticism,which does less with religion and more with politics,has never been a matter of serious concern to authorities in Pakistan.That is a tragedy in itself.

Religious fanaticsm can be defined as a political gimmick to use religious sentiments for pure political gains.The two major sects in Pakistan,Sunnis and Shias, are mere pawns on the chess board and players are saudi Arabia and Iran;the former pretending to reprsent entire Sunni world,the latter shia world.

In mid-fifties worst ever anti-Ahmadi riots took place in Pakistan.Ahmadis were killed,their houses and business establishments burnt.A commission of enquiry was instituted to probe the causes of the riots against Ahmadis.The commission was headed by Justice Muneer and thus is known as 'Muneer Commission'.The concluding remarks of the commission were in effect like this:Who is a Muslim.The two learned divines could not agree on this fundamental.According the definition of one we too were Muslims,according to the rest we too weren't.

There is no comprehensive defintion of the follower of any religion.When Savarkar wrote Hindutva(Hindudom),there were fifty definitions of a Hindu.British parliament had to define a Christian by adding that it was essential for a Christian to beleive in hell.(Bertrand Rusell,Why I am not a Christian).Ahamdis were declared non-Muslims in mid-seventies.Bhutto wanted to neutralised Jamat-E-Islami,an extremist Muslim organisation in the Indian sub-continentm,who were on the forefront of a demand that Ahmadis are declared non-Muslims and engineered anti-Ahmadi riots in mid-fifties.If fanticism had been nipped in the bud,thousands of lives could have been saved.Children of Devil,the politicians,won't let us live in peace.The instrument which God devised to fight devil,devil is using the same instrument,I mean religion, to finish what ever little good is left in us.

As always TK, Great comment.

The powers that be, like to use our own religious and political beliefs to pit us against each other, and keep the attention away from themselves.

Good article, Rumana!

Nice to see a perspective written by someone in-country

t. k. kidwai thank you for your detailed comment. it has always been dangerous to mix politics with religion, and we are reaping what was sown many many years ago. josharizona, thank you for your comments too. azzay hope all is well.