LAHORE: The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan has expressed its concern at the desecration of graves of a religious minority and sought attention of the government towards its legal duty of protecting religious as well as burial sites of minorities.

“HRCP reminds the state that it is legally bound under the 2014 Supreme Court judgment to protect not only religious minorities’ sites of worship but also their burial sites,” says an official post of the rights body on X (formerly Twitter).

“In this context, the continued desecration of Ahmadiyya graves—with about 40 tombstones reportedly vandalised in Sheikhupura between 21 and 24 January—is reprehensible,” it says, adding, “The local administration must be directed to take action against the perpetrators and also ensure that hate speech inciting such acts is stringently penalised.”

Published in Dawn, January 27th, 2025