For minorities in Pakistan, persecution never ends

Pakistan Punjab

For minorities in Pakistan, persecution never ends

By Abdul Manan
Published: December 4, 2011

Dug out, desecrated graves at the Ahmadi graveyard.

DUNYAPUR: Even in death, the Ahmadiyya community faces persecution.

In a gruesome incident late Saturday night, 29 graves in an Ahmadi graveyard were desecrated in Dunyapur, district Lodhran, around 100 kilometres away from Multan.

The community’s spokesperson Saleemuddin told The Express Tribune that unidentified people entered the graveyard and broke the plaques (katbe) of a large number of graves, while digging around 29 others. Only two graves that were made of marble were left concrete, he said.

Saleemuddin said local representatives of the community have approached the police and submitted an application for legal action, but no investigation has been undertaken so far. Police officials have asked the community to first rebuild their graves after which the issue would be further investigated, he added.

DPO Lodhran Agha Muhammad Yusuf while talking to The Express Tribune confirmed that the graveyard had been desecrated, adding that the area’s DSP is looking into the matter. The DPO said he would look into the case after investigations are completed.

The graveyard is said to be established in 1976, but Saleemuddin claimed that said it was made 80 years ago.

Religious tension is high in Dunyapur where around 15 families belonging to the Ahmadiyya community reside.

Saleemuddin said that around six months ago, a private school run by a member of the Ahmadiyya community was forcefully closed down by residents. People took to the streets and to shut the school where many Muslim children were being educated free of cost, he said.

The next face of persecution may be the take over business and properties of the community, he feared.

Unfortunately, this is not the first such incident. Around two months ago, another Ahmadi graveyard located in Haveli Majokan district Sargodha was dug up, humiliating and angering community members.

He said the incidents of desecrating graves of the Ahmadiyya community have increased over the last few months. He said that till now, a total of 30 such cases have been recorded in the country.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 5th, 2011.

Copyrighted © 2011 The Express Tribune News Network
URL: http://tribune.com.pk/?p=302105

Grave of Ahmadi dug up in West Java

NATIONAL Fri, 03/04/2011 9:12 PM

Grave of Ahmadi dug up in West Java

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The remains of a deceased Ahmadiyah follower in Bandung, West Java, were found Thursday after his grave had allegedly been dug up shortly after his funeral.

“It happened [on Thursday]. It is true, the grave of [an Ahmadi] from the Buni Jaya chapter was dug up by unknown parties, and the corpse was just left there,” Ahmad Sulaeman from the Priangan Barat chapter of Jemaah Ahmadiyah Indonesia said Friday, as quoted by kompas.com.

Sulaeman said the remains were of an Ahmadi from Bogor named Ahmad Mulyadi, whose family had been from Buni Jaya, and thus requested he be buried there.

The remains had been brought from Bogor to Bandung for burial on Thursday.

After the funeral was finished at about 9.30 a.m, a group of people had come allegedly asking the cemetary keepers to dig up the grave again.

Priangan Barat Jemaah Ahmadiyah Indonesia coordinator said he deeply regretted the incident.

“… We hope the officers take legal action, especially because [this violates] the governor’s regulation. The regulation is said to set sanctions against people conducting acts of violence against Ahmadiyah followers,” Rafiq Ahmad said.

Under the regulation, Ahmadis are prohibited from conducting religious activities openly, and local residents are prohibited from carrying out acts of violence against them.

Copyright © 2008 The Jakarta Post - PT Bina Media Tenggara. All Rights Reserved
URL: www.thejakartapost.com/news/2011/03/04/grave...java.html

Body of Ahmadiyah Follower Dug Up in Bandung

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Body of Ahmadiyah Follower Dug Up in Bandung

Antara & JG | March 04, 2011

An unidentified group of people has dug up the body of an Ahmadiyah follower in Bandung, West Java and left it abandoned in the graveyard.

The damaged tomb belonged to Mulyadi, 55, of Buni Jaya village who was buried on Thursday . Shortly after the burial, a group of men came and forced the gravedigger to take the body out of the tomb.

“It’s true that the tomb of our follower from Buni Jaya was dug out,” a spokesman for the Ahmadiyah congregation in Bandung, Ahmad Sulaeman said.

“He was from Bogor but his family lives in Buni Jaya and they wanted him to be buried there,” he added.

According to Ahmad, Mulyadi was buried at 9.30 a.m. on Thursday at Buni Jaya public cemetery. Half an hour later a group of men came and forced the grave digger to unearth the body and leave it in the grave yard. The family and a number of Ahmadiyah followers later took the body and buried it on the property of another Ahmadiyah follower.

A spokesman for the Indonesia Ahmadiyah Congregation (JAI), Firdaus Mubarik, told the Globe that the incident had dangerous implications.

“This is very dangerous because it shows that haters will do anything to attack Ahmadiyah,” he said, adding that he hoped the incident would not be repeated elsewhere.

“We will probably have to bury our followers on a special land, separate from the public cemetery. We already did it in East Lombok where the Ahmadiyah cemetery is side by side with a Christian cemetery,” Firdaus said.

The national secretary of Ahmadiyah Indonesia, Zafrullah Pontoh was at a loss for words when contacted by the Globe.

“I don’t know what else to say… It was a very bad thing, I just hope it won’t happen again,” he said.

Meanwhile, the coordinator of Bandung’s Ahmadiyah congregation, Rafiq, expressed regret for the incident.

“We are deeply troubled by this. We hope the police will catch the perpetrators and punish them because we consider this a violent act.”

Copyright 2010 The Jakarta Globe
URL: www.thejakartaglobe.com/home/body...bandung/426738