LAHORE: Two worship places of the Ahmadiyya community were allegedly desecrated by police in the last two days in Gujrat and Sheikhupura districts.

Ahmadiyya community members told Dawn that workers of Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan approached their worship place in Shadiwal (Gujrat) and took pictures of Quranic verses written in the courtyard.

The TLP workers later lodged a complaint with Kunjah police to remove Islamic wording from the worship place.

The police first directed the community to cover the wordings at the worship place. The community members suggested raising a fibre wall around the worship place to hide the wording from the public view but the police did not listen to them.

They claimed that the police called a labourer who painted the wall blue.

In another incident in Sheikhupura, police removed minarets of Ahmaddiyya community worship place on the pressure of the TLP workers.

Accusing police of desecrating their worship places in the province now and then rather than taking action against the people involved in extremist acts, the community urged Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar to protect their rights.

Gujrat DPO Ahmad Shah Nawaz told Dawn that the police did not remove and desecrate any worship place of the Ahmaddiyya community.

Published in Dawn, September 1st, 2023