Ahmadi Muslim Killed in Karachi, Pakistan

26th May 2010

PRESS RELEASE

Ahmadi Muslim Killed in Karachi, Pakistan

The deceased was a kind and devoted Ahmadi Muslim. He was well respected and liked by the local community.

It is with great sadness that the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat confirms that another member of its community, Mr Hafeez Ahmad Shakir (age 48) from Karachi was killed in a barbaric attack on 19 May 2010. The deceased was murdered solely because he was an Ahmadi Muslim.

Mr Shakir was leaving the medical store where he worked late at night in Goharabad, Karachi when he was approached by two men on a motorcycle. The two men asked him his name and address and when they were satisfied as to who he was they pulled out a gun and shot him in the temple, killing him instantly. The two assailants fled the scene immediately.

The deceased was a kind and devoted Ahmadi Muslim. He was well respected and liked by the local community. It was only because he was a practising member of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat that he was targeted.

The deceased is survived by his mother, his wife, two daughters and son. On 21 May 2010 his funeral prayers were led in absentia in London by the Head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat, Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad.

Throughout Pakistan and particularly in Karachi members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat are facing grave danger. In the recent past 9 Ahmadis have been killed in Karachi as anti-Ahmadiyya propaganda has increased. Conferences are being regularly held to incite people to kill or violently attack Ahmadi Muslims and social boycotts are encouraged and implemented throughout the country.

The police and relevant authorities are regularly informed of the atrocities that are occurring but fail to take any significant or appropriate action. Religious extremists are being granted a free hand to persecute innocent Ahmadi men, women and children.

In 1984 anti-Ahmadiyya legislation was passed in Pakistan which legitimised discrimination against the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat. Since then 109 Ahmadis have been murdered for their faith and this year already 6 Ahmadis have been killed.

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Tel/Fax: 020 8544 7613 Mob: 077954 90682

Email: press @ ahmadiyya.org.uk

Press Secretary AMJ International