Nidhiri Kotli, AJK; November 2023: Qazi Muhammad Yusuf, an Ahmadi, was posted in Government Boys Primary School at Barmoochgoi Kotli, Azad Kashmir, 6 years ago. He has served in the education department for over 33 years. A teacher in that school, who associated with Tehreek-e-Labbaik, used to ask him to leave the Ahmadiyya Community. This teacher is communally and politically strong and often absent from school. He would show attendance on the attendance register whenever he came to the school instead of writing leave. Whenever Mr. Yusuf as head teacher, forbade him to do so, he would take offence and threaten him with dismissal from service.

On September 30, the said teacher consulted an extremist right wing religious cleric, Adnan Rizvi, and told the supporters of Tehreek-e-Labbaik that a Qadiani teacher in the village school was preaching his religion to children and opposed the “Labbaik” slogan. These people met the District Education Officer and demanded Mr Yusuf’s removal from the school. Accordingly, the DEO called Mr. Yusuf and sent officers to the school for investigation on October 10.

On this occasion, Tehreek-e-Labbaik activists also gathered and demanded the expulsion of the Ahmadi teacher. Everyone wrote a note and signed it saying that the Qadiani teacher shouldn’t be there. After bowing to the demands of the Labbaik, these officials posed for a group photo with the miscreants. They posted it on social media with the caption that a Qadiani teacher had been expelled.

Later, Mr.Yusuf was posted on duty in the office of the Assistant Education Officer. Under these circumstances, Mr. Yusuf put up a request for retirement.