Lahore, Mar 11 (PTI) Members of a radical Islamist party attacked several houses of the Ahmadi community in Pakistan's Punjab province over the death of a man, members of the minority group said on Tuesday.

The incident took place recently in Bahawalnagar, some 400 km from here.

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According to Jamaat-e-Ahmadiyya Pakistan (JAP), a dispute erupted between two rival groups over a trivial matter. During the heated altercation, a man identified as Amjad Mahmood died. At the time of the incident, no Ahmadi was present nearby.

"However, Tehreek-e-Labbaik (TLP) exploited Amjad's death, launching protests in the Dahranwala area and inciting the people falsely claiming that Ahmadis had killed Amjad. Using this as a pretext, they attacked some houses of Ahmadis, ransacked them and also pressured police to demolish the Ahmadi worship place there. On their pressure, police not only demolished the Ahmadi worship place but also booked two Ahmadis in the murder case," it said.

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Police said they demolished the Ahmadi worship place to control the law and order situation.

JAP spokesperson Aamir Mehmood strongly condemned the demolition of the Ahmadi worship place and booking of two Ahmadis in a murder case.

"It is deeply regrettable that to appease an extremist group, the police have illegally demolished the minarets of an Ahmadi place of worship. Under the guise of religious sentiments, extremist elements are intensifying their persecution of Ahmadis in Pakistan, while the authorities have utterly failed to provide them protection," he said.

He demanded a fair and impartial investigation into the incident and urged that all those involved be brought to justice according to the law.

Meanwhile, Amnesty International has called on the Pakistani government to release and drop all charges against Ahmadis detained in recent weeks and ensure adequate protection to Ahmadi places of worship.

“The disturbing pattern of arbitrary arrests, harassment and violence against the Ahmadi community is in violation of their right to freedom of religion and belief," it said.

In the past two weeks alone, more than 60 Ahmadis, including children, have been unlawfully arrested in Daska, Sargodha and Karachi in Punjab and Sindh, while Ahmadi places of worship have been desecrated in Bahawalnagar and Gujranwala, the Amnesty said

“Local authorities in Pakistan must provide adequate protection to Ahmadi places of worship and any officials engaged in harassment or destruction of Ahmadiyya property must be brought to justice. Denying the Ahmadis their right to freedom of religion and belief is in violation of Article 20 of Pakistan's Constitution and the country's international human rights obligations,” it said.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)