Two deadly attacks occurred in Karachi on April 18 and in Bhullair, Punjab, on April 25.
by Massimo Introvigne
Two members of the persecuted Ahmadiyya Community were killed in one week in Pakistan.
On April 18, 2025, Mr. Laiq Ahmed Cheema, a 46-year-old member of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, was tragically murdered by unidentified assailants while en route to attend prayers.
Mr. Laiq Ahmed Cheema, a committed member of the Ahmadiyya Community and the father of seven children, was subjected to an assault while en route to a local place of worship in Karachi.
He was attacked with bricks and sticks and died later.
Having tracked his movements, the culprits fled the area unnoticed, even though it was a high-security zone overseen by the Shahrah-e-Noor Jahan Police Station.
On the evening of April 24, 2025, two Ahmadi youths were subjected to an ambush by armed extremists in Bhullair, District Kasur, Punjab, Pakistan. Muhammad Asif, a 19-year-old student, was fatally shot. Ihsan Ahmad suffered severe injuries.
Muhammad Asif, the son of Rafiq Ahmad, and his friend Ihsan Ahmad were riding a motorcycle when extremists targeted them in a calculated assault. The attackers opened fire without provocation, killing Asif instantly. At the time of this writing, no arrests have been made.
The UK-based International Human Rights Committee reported the incidents.
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.
