Unidentified people vandalized the graves of three Ahmadis in the shared cemetery at Qaziyan Chowk, Kotli of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, the community claimed. The alleged incident occurred on July 5.

“This act of desecration is deplorable and goes against the principles of respect and tolerance,” a community spokesperson said in a statement. “We must stand united against such acts of religious intolerance.”

Aaj News could not independently authenticate the facts.

Over the past few months, many incidents pertaining to attacks on the Ahmadiyya place of worship and their members have been reported. Most of them have come to light through social media.

A Kotli-like incident was reported in Punjab’s Sheikhupura earlier this week when according to the community the administration “removed the inscriptions” from the graves of 10 Ahmadis from a joint cemetery. They lament such situations.

Last week, the Lahore High Court Bar Association asked the Punjab Home Department to “strictly implement” the law against Ahmadis if they were found performing Islamic rituals on Eidul Azha, including the “prayer and qurbani”.

At least five complaints were registered across the province against the community members for sacrificing animals on Eid, as per media reports, which was “strongly condemned” by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.

“No progressive society can afford to be held hostage to the whims of religious extremists in this manner,” the organization said in its July 3 statement.

The HRCP was of the view that such harassment flouts the 2022 Supreme Court judgement which upholds all religious minorities’ fundamental rights as citizens of Pakistan, including their right to dignity and to practice their faith within their places of worship. “All such cases must be quashed immediately.”