At least 80 graves were destroyed just two weeks before the elections.
by Massimo Introvigne
![Signs of the destruction in a Daska cemetery. From X.](https://bitterwinter.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Signs-of-the-destruction.jpeg)
![Signs of the destruction in a Daska cemetery. From X.](https://bitterwinter.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Signs-of-the-destruction.jpeg)
On January 24, as reported and documented on social media by minority rights activists, the police under pressure of local Sunni radicals destroyed at least 80 Ahmadi graves in two cemeteries in Daska, a city in Punjab located some 100 kilometers from Lahore.
The Ahmadis complained that the portions of the cemeteries where the graves were destroyed were allocated to their community by the authorities and were clearly separated from the Sunni areas. This did not avoid the destruction.
Ahmadis report that the extremist group Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan incited the desecration, which was carried out by the order of the Assistant Commissioner of Daska, Anwar Ali Kanju, known for his hostility to the Ahmadiyya community. The same bureaucrat had ordered the attack on another 75 Ahmadi graves in September 2023.
![An Ahmadi grave destroyed in Daska in September 2023. From X.](https://bitterwinter.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/An-Ahmadi-grave-.jpeg)
![An Ahmadi grave destroyed in Daska in September 2023. From X.](https://bitterwinter.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/An-Ahmadi-grave-.jpeg)
The Ahmadis are considered as non-Muslims by Pakistani laws. They regard their 19th-century founder Mirza Ghulam Ahmad as “both a prophet and a follower of the Holy Prophet [Muhammad].” This is not good enough for conservative Sunnis, who believe the Ahmadis violate the Islamic tenet of the “finality of prophethood,” which teaches that there can be no prophet after Muhammad.
Since they are regarded as non-Muslims, Ahmadis are prevented from using Muslim symbols on their places of worships and graves, although court decisions stated that Ahmadi cemeteries and mosques built before 1984, when the law was changed, should be left undisturbed.
![Images of the police attacking the graves on January 24. From X.](https://bitterwinter.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/police.jpeg)
![Images of the police attacking the graves on January 24. From X.](https://bitterwinter.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/police.jpeg)
Videos show police officers destroying and painting in black the Ahmadi graves in Daska, certainly without checking whether they were older than 1984.
It is significant that this new incident happened two weeks before Pakistan’s general elections, and among appeals by religious minorities to all parties to solve the problem of their discrimination and persecution. From Daska comes a very negative sign, one indicating that those who hate minorities will continue their hate campaigns, no matter who wins the elections.