A new violation of the human rights of Ahmadi Muslims took place in Daska, Punjab, Pakistan, on 24 January 2024 at 10 a.m., when police desecrated gravestones of Ahmadi graves.
Several human rights bodies have been reporting how the wave of intolerance against Ahmadi Muslims in Pakistan intensified in 2023 and continued in 2024, when – as on this occasion – the police, on the orders of senior commanders, went on a rampage to desecrate Ahmadi graves and their gravestones.
The cemetery had a total of 101 graves, of which 75 had gravestones. The police desecrated 65 of them. The policemen claimed that they had orders from the Deputy Commissioner (AC) of Daska, Mr. Anwar Ali Kanju. The deplorable act can be seen in this online video[i].

The AC of Daska, Mr. Anwar Ali Kanju has long been involved in the persecution of the Ahmadis.
Violence against Ahmadis in Daska, Punjab Pakistan on 24 January 2024, at 10am, police desecrated the tombstones of Ahmadi graves.
In a similar incident today, police desecrated another Ahmadi graveyard in Bharoke, smashing gravestones and spraying them with black ink. The question we ask ourselves is: if the police themselves are involved in such incidents, to whom should the Ahmadis turn to have their rights guaranteed?
Once again, the Pakistani authorities have committed crimes which, according to the law, they are charged with punishing and preventing: a real offence against the rule of law. It is time for the state to clarify its policy on the desecration of Ahmadi cemeteries and graves. The government must clarify under which law the Commissioner issued these orders.

Leading human rights groups and UN human rights experts have repeatedly expressed their deep concern at the lack of attention to the grave violations of fundamental rights perpetrated against the Ahmadi community around the world and have called on the international community to redouble its efforts to end the persecution of our minority.
We therefore call on our authorities, once again, to put pressure on the government of Pakistan to fulfil its responsibility to provide protection for all its citizens, to guarantee the freedom of religious practice of the Ahmadis and to bring the perpetrators of these attacks to justice. The government of Pakistan must bring its laws and practices in line with international standards, as mandated by articles 2 and 18 and articles 25 and 26 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. -TIN Bureau