An Ahmadi man was arrested on blasphemy charges in Punjab’s Gujranwala for distributing langar on the 10th of Muharram (Ashura) and sent to jail on judicial remand for seven days, the police said on Monday.

A citizen filed a first information report (FIR), dated July 6, at the Satellite Town Police Station and said that the incident occurred on July 6 at 4:30pm. The case was registered under Section 298(C) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) which criminalises certain acts by members of the Ahmadi community, including calling themselves Muslims or referring to their faith as Islam.

Muhammad Irfan, public relations officer to the Gujranwala city police officer, told Dawn.com: “The suspect has been arrested and sent to jail on judicial remand for seven days.”

The FIR said that the complainant saw the Ahmadi man distributing biryani at a langar and “identifying himself as a Muslim and speaking and acting like a Muslim.”

Langar refers to the tradition of distributing free food, often associated with religious institutions and charitable organisations.

The complainant stated that he called two people but “the suspect fled from the scene when he saw us.”

Referring to the Ahmadi man in the report, the complainant said that he could not perform the rituals of Islam.

Condemning the development, PPP Senator Sherry Rehman expressed hope that the government would annul the FIR.

Last month, the Lahore High Court Bar Association (LHCBA) asked the Punjab police chief to prevent the Ahmadiyya community from observing Islamic rituals on the occasion of Eidul Azha and take action against its members if found violating the law.

In a letter, the LHCBA said that the followers of other religions and sects — especially the Ahmadis — are neither legally nor religiously permitted to use Islamic symbols and practices.

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

The HRCP also spoke of Ahmadis’ “arbitrary detention”, “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.

One of the key findings of the report said that disinformation on social media sparked most of the registered blasphemy cases.

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