Over two dozen members of the Ahmadi community, including children, were taken into “protective custody” by law enforcement personnel as a mob gathered outside its place of worship in Surjani Town, according to the police.

West Zone Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) Irfan Ali Baloch told Dawn.com: “Several workers of the Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) gathered outside the Ahmadi place of worship in Surjani Town.

“They demanded to prevent the Ahmadis from offering Friday prayers and using symbols of Islam,” the DIG said. “Anticipating a possible law and order situation, police took 25 Ahmadis into protective custody.”

Meanwhile, Ahmadi community spokesperson Amir Mehmood claimed that the police detained 25 Ahmadis, including eight children, and took them to Khawaja Ajmer Nagri police station.

“For some time, TLP workers gathered outside the worship centre, demanding the arrest and sealing of such places,” he told Dawn.com, adding that members practised religious rites inside closed buildings and wondered how this could be a “crime”.

He said that detaining Ahmadis from their place of worship for performing their rituals “was a grave violation of human rights and Pakistan’s Constitution, which allowed freely practicing faith”.

DIG Baloch denied the allegations by the spokesperson that the worshippers had been arrested. He added that police would get a “legal opinion” about the place of worship.

The Human Rights Com­­mission of Pakistan (HRCP) said on Tuesday it had observed a growing trend of mob-led attacks on the homes of families belonging to religious minorities, as well as their places of worship.

The HRCP also spoke of Ahmadis’ “arbitrary” detention, alleged desecration of their graves and the vulnerability of Hindu and Christian women to forced conversion.

The report, titled Under Siege: Freedom of Religion or Belief in 2023-24, said over 750 persons were in prison on charges of blasphemy as of October last year. It documented at least four faith-based killings, three of which targeted the Ahmadi community.

HRCP observed an “increasing weaponisation of blasphe­­my laws against Ahmadis”, with cases often initiated by law enforcement officials themselves.

According to the report, “four cases were filed by police officers against Ahmadis in Punjab, reflecting an institutional bias against the community.”