SAHIWAL: The district administration and police on Friday removed the religious symbols being used by the Ahmadiyya community at Chak 6/11-L of Chichawatni and asked it to reduce the height of two minarets of their Jamaat Khana.

Sources close to the situation reported that the law-and-order situation remained tense and hostile between the Ahmadiyya community and Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan for seven to eight hours.

Deputy Commissioner Shahid Mahmood told Dawn that all ‘religious symbols’ used by the Ahmadiyya community, which were not allowed under the 1973 Constitution, had been removed.

The situation escalated when the politicians belonging to the TLP had an encounter with some Ahmadiyya community members over their frequent visits to the village.

It is reported the TLP members were taking pictures of the Ahmaddiya worship place when the community members objected to it. A scuffle broke out between the TLP members and the locals. The TLP men called office-bearers of the party and activists for Friday prayers in the village and within hours, more than 150-200 TLP activists, including their political leaders at the district and divisional levels, gathered in the village and started chanting slogans.

The village elders alerted Harappa police and SHO Waqas Dhakko, DSP Special Branch Rana Ifitkhar, ASP Taj Raisani and Assistant Commissioner Waheed Gondal, along with more than 100 police personnel reached the village and cordoned it off.

There are unconfirmed reports that the police recovered some guns and pistols from the local villagers which they were using for their protection. It is said both parties later agreed to negotiate in a peaceful manner. The negotiations continued for three to four hours after Friday prayers. Later, both groups reached a settlement and the Ahmadiyya community agreed to remove the minarets on its own.

Chichawatni ASP Taj Raisani told Dawn by phone that members from both groups had dispersed peacefully and that the situation was calm under full police control. He added that the police, Elite Force, and law enforcement personnel in plain clothes were deployed and the village would be under surveillance for the night.

SHO Waqas Dhakko said no one was arrested from either side. DPO Faisal Shahzad told Dawn police would register a case over arms display against local villagers belonging to the Ahmadiyya community.

Published in Dawn, December 21st, 2024