Chooknawali, District Gujrat; August 29, 2023:
The local Ahmadiyya mosque was built in the 1960s. Eleven Ahmadi families live here. There was no opposition in the village. People join on occasions of happiness and sadness. However, a few days ago, a person who is not a local came to the village to sell some eatables. He saw the Ahmadiyya mosque, and in league with TLP filed a report in Kunjah police station objecting to its construction. An Ahmadiyya delegation called on the SHO. He told Ahmadis to erase the Kalima, on which the delegation stated their position.
On the afternoon of August 29, the Assistant Commissioner contacted Waleed Ahmed, son of the local Ahmadiyya president, and asked him to erase the Kalima, and added that if he did not do so, there was a fear that the next day these people would come in a procession, enter your place of worship and destroy the minarets and niche, and thus do more damage. The Ahmadi youth refused to do as told. Later, after 11:00 pm, the police came to the mosque, knocked on the door of the Ahmadi house in front of the worship place and told the resident Ahmadi youth to erase the Kalima. On his refusal, an official painted the Kalima black, and took pictures.
On August 30, 2023 at around 1 P.M, police officials, under the supervision of the SHO of Kanjah Police Station, revisited the Ahmadiyya mosque. They proceeded to demolish the sacred inscriptions using a hammer and removed the debris from the site.
Following the incident, Tehreek e Labbaik extremists commended the removal of sacred inscriptions in Chooknawali. They demanded the minarets at the Ahmadiyya Worship Place in Shadiwal be brought down by the upcoming Sunday, declaring Monday as a day dedicated to their cause. SHO Shafqat Mahmood Butt expressed support for their actions and assured them of solidarity.
