One of those arrested for praying on Friday in Karachi died in jail after torture and denial of medical treatment.
by Massimo Introvigne
Tahir Mahmood, 71, passed away in a Pakistani prison on May 11, 2025. He was among the Ahmadis detained and jailed in Malir, Karachi, for conducting Friday prayers.
On March 12, 2025, the City Court of Karachi denied bail requests for Tahir Mahmood Sahib and two other Ahmadis—Ijaz Hussain and Ayaz Hussain—who faced charges under Pakistan Penal Code Sections 295 and 298.
Ahmadis have no right to describe themselves as Muslims in Pakistan. Offering prayers on Fridays is regarded as typical of Muslims and thus forbidden to Ahmadis.
Shoaib Khan, the complainant in this case, is a recognized official of Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), an extremist group known inter alia for promoting violence against the Ahmadis.
On the day of the hearing, the courtroom and its surroundings were filled with TLP-affiliated lawyers, clerics, and supporters. Some of them insulted and even physically attacked the Ahmadi defendants, with no reaction from the attending law enforcement.
The judge, surrounded by TLP lawyers and anti-Ahmadi slogans, reportedly assured the extremists that bail would be denied “as per expectations.”
After the rejection, Tahir Mahmood and Ijaz Hussain were violently dragged from the courtroom by lawyers and mobs and handed over to police. Officers continued to abuse them in custody. These events were filmed and proudly shared through social media channels associated with religious extremist networks.
Once in police custody, Tahir Mahmood was reportedly interrogated and beaten for his refusal to denounce his faith.
His health quickly declined. Witnesses and reports confirm he looked weak, sluggish, and had oral blisters that made eating or drinking painful. Despite evident signs of medical distress, he was denied appropriate treatment, which ultimately resulted in his death in jail on May 11, 2025.
Massimo Introvigne (born June 14, 1955 in Rome) is an Italian sociologist of religions. He is the founder and managing director of the Center for Studies on New Religions (CESNUR), an international network of scholars who study new religious movements. Introvigne is the author of some 70 books and more than 100 articles in the field of sociology of religion. He was the main author of the Enciclopedia delle religioni in Italia (Encyclopedia of Religions in Italy). He is a member of the editorial board for the Interdisciplinary Journal of Research on Religion and of the executive board of University of California Press’ Nova Religio. From January 5 to December 31, 2011, he has served as the “Representative on combating racism, xenophobia and discrimination, with a special focus on discrimination against Christians and members of other religions” of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). From 2012 to 2015 he served as chairperson of the Observatory of Religious Liberty, instituted by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in order to monitor problems of religious liberty on a worldwide scale.
