40 Detained and More Than 25 Charged Following Friday Prayers in Surjani Town
(Karachi, Pakistan) – Police in Surjani Town, Karachi, Police and Rangers detained 40 members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, including women and children, and formally arrested six men on 7 March 2025 and charged more than 25 others for holding congregational Friday prayers inside their mosque, after a hostile mob led by members of the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) surrounded the site and demanded action against the worshippers.
The arrests formed part of a continuing crackdown on Ahmadi Friday worship services in Pakistan and followed similar incidents in Daska and Bhagtanwala the previous week.
On 7 March, a crowd gathered outside the Ahmadi mosque in Surjani Town, chanting inflammatory slogans and demanding police intervention against those attending the Friday prayer service. When police and Rangers arrived at the scene, mob leaders pressed them to take action against the congregation.
Instead of dispersing the mob or securing the worship place, law enforcement personnel entered the mosque and took worshippers into custody. Following the arrests, members of the mob proceeded to the police station and continued pressuring authorities to register criminal charges.
Police registered Case No. 290 under Sections 298 and 34 of the Pakistan Penal Code and formally arrested six Ahmadis. More than 25 others were named in connection with the case. The mosque was subsequently sealed, preventing the local Ahmadi community from continuing congregational prayers and depriving them of access to their place of worship.
The case was filed following a TLP complaint alleging that Ahmadis had used Islamic rituals during prayers. The arrests and sealing of the mosque took place despite the Supreme Court’s ruling in the Tahir Naqash case, in which Justice Mansoor Ali Shah stated that obstructing a non-Muslim minority from practising religion within its place of worship is against the Constitution and contrary to the spirit of the Islamic republic.
The Surjani Town incident came only days after police in Daska arrested 22 Ahmadis for Friday prayers inside a private enclosed place of worship, and after another case was registered against 23 Ahmadis in Bhagtanwala, District Sargodha, for the same reason.
The International Human Rights Desk called for the immediate release of the detained Ahmadis, the withdrawal of baseless charges, and accountability for extremist groups inciting unlawful action against religious minorities.