Night Operation Targets 70-Year-Old Mosque and Adjacent Cemetery Without Warrant

(Gujranwala, Pakistan) – Police demolished the prayer niche of a 70-year-old Ahmadi mosque and removed headstones from two Ahmadi graves during a late-night operation in Eminabad, District Gujranwala, on 29 July 2025, according to local residents.

The operation took place at about 1.30 am at a site known locally as Jamunwala Dera, near the village of Butala Sharm Singh, where a historic Ahmadi mosque stands beside a small cemetery used by the local Ahmadiyya Muslim Community.

Witnesses said police from Eminabad Police Station arrived in two private vehicles, on motorcycles, and with a tractor-trolley. The group included two uniformed officers and around ten men in plain clothes.

Residents said officers blocked local people from approaching the site as the demolition began. Over the next several hours, police demolished the mosque’s mihrab, or prayer niche, using manual tools and machinery. By about 4 am, the mihrab had been removed and replaced with a brick wall. Rubble from the demolished structure remained at the site.

During the same operation, police entered the adjoining Ahmadi graveyard and removed the headstones from two graves. The gravestones carried Islamic inscriptions and were taken away with the debris, according to residents.

No demolition order, warrant, or prior notice was shown to local residents. Community members said the operation appeared to have been planned in advance and was carried out at night to avoid scrutiny and prevent legal challenge.

The mosque had stood for more than 70 years and had remained a place of worship for the local Ahmadi community.