A Gujranwala court on Tuesday dismissed the post-arrest bail petition of an Ahmadiyya community member, who was arrested on blasphemy charges for distributing Niaz (free food and drinks) on the 10th of Muharram (Youm-i-Ashur).

The first information report (FIR) against the suspect was lodged with the Satellite Town police station in Punjab’s Gujranwala city on the complaint of a Hafizabad Road resident 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.

In the FIR, the complainant said the incident took place on July 6 at 4:30pm when he saw the suspect distributing free food and drink during Muharram, “posing as a Muslim”. The Ahmadi man was subsequently arrested and sent on judicial remand.

Gujranwala Judicial Magistrate Sidra Gul Nawaz presided over a hearing for the man’s post-arrest bail plea today.

The court order, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, said that the suspect was “found guilty” during the investigation and “sufficient material has come on record connecting him with the commission of the offence”, adding that a large silver cooking pot with chicken biryani was recovered from him.

It also pointed out that the offence under Section 298(C) was related to matters concerning the religious sentiments of a particular community and carried “serious repercussions for law and order”.

Thus, the order said that as a “necessary corollary” of the above, the post-arrest bail plea was dismissed.

PPP Senator Sherry Rehman had condemned the Ahmadi man’s arrest and 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.