Mob kills Ahmadi man in Karachi amid blasphemy protest violence

Islamists target Pakistan’s Ahmadiyya community in deadly Karachi attack over Friday prayers.

Members of religious groups chant slogans as they gather outside an Ahmadiyya place of worship in Karachi on April 18, 2025. Photo by Rizwan Tabassum/AFP

By Anna Fadiah and Hayu Andini

A member of Pakistan’s persecuted Ahmadiyya community was beaten to death by a mob on Friday in Karachi, after hundreds of Islamists stormed their place of worship in the city’s busy Saddar neighborhood. The mob kills Ahmadi man in Karachi incident, driven by religious intolerance and anti-blasphemy sentiment, reflects the growing threat to minorities in the country and highlights the worsening persecution of Ahmadis.

The attack took place during Friday prayers, a time when members of the Ahmadiyya community were gathered inside their prayer space. Witnesses say that supporters of the hardline Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) party, a group notorious for its aggressive stance on blasphemy, marched through the narrow streets chanting inflammatory slogans, furious that the Ahmadis were conducting prayers.

A targeted killing

“One member of the community was killed after the mob identified him as an Ahmadi,” said Muhammad Safdar, a senior local police officer. “They attacked him with sticks and bricks.” The victim, whose identity has not yet been disclosed, was singled out by the crowd before being beaten to death in full public view.

Police say the mob included members of several religious organizations, but the core of the demonstrators were aligned with TLP, a political party known for exploiting Pakistan’s strict blasphemy laws for religious and political gain.

To protect other community members, officers detained around 25 Ahmadis, ostensibly for their safety, and moved them into police custody. An AFP journalist reported seeing a police van, escorted by law enforcement vehicles, transporting the men away after lengthy negotiations with the mob.

An organized assault rooted in systemic discrimination

The mob kills Ahmadi man in Karachi incident is only the latest in a long line of violent episodes targeting the Ahmadiyya community. Under Pakistani law, Ahmadis are officially declared non-Muslims, a status enshrined in the constitution since 1974. Furthermore, Ordinance XX, passed in 1984, restricts Ahmadis from referring to themselves as Muslims or their places of worship as mosques, or even using Islamic greetings and terminology.

Despite professing a faith almost indistinguishable from mainstream Islam, Ahmadis are deemed heretical for believing in a messiah after Prophet Muhammad. This doctrinal difference has been used as a justification for decades of state-sanctioned exclusion and societal abuse.

According to data compiled by the community, over 280 Ahmadis have been killed since 1984, and more than 4,100 have faced criminal charges, including 335 under Pakistan’s blasphemy laws, which carry the death penalty. In 2024 alone, six Ahmadis have already been killed.

TLP and other hardline religious groups have played a critical role in the amplification of anti-Ahmadi sentiment across Pakistan. These groups often monitor Ahmadi places of worship and lodge police complaints for minor or even fabricated infractions, accusing Ahmadis of pretending to be Muslims or practicing Islam—a crime under Pakistani law.

Abdul Qadir Ashrafi, a 52-year-old businessman who took part in the mob, told AFP he was there to pressure the police. “We requested that the place be sealed and that those conducting the Friday prayers be arrested, with criminal proceedings initiated against them,” he said.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan condemned the incident, calling it “an orchestrated attack by a far-right religious party on a colonial-era Ahmadi place of worship.” The organization added that the event was “a stark reminder of the continued complicity of the state in the systematic persecution of a beleaguered community.”

State complicity and failure of law enforcement

While the police eventually intervened to extract some members of the Ahmadiyya community, the delay in action and the willingness to detain the victims instead of the attackers has drawn criticism from human rights groups and civil society.

“The very people under attack were the ones taken into custody,” said a Karachi-based rights activist. “This isn’t protection—it’s victim-blaming dressed up as law enforcement.”

In many such cases, Pakistani authorities have either turned a blind eye or buckled under the pressure of extremist demands. In August 2023, for instance, the Supreme Court reversed a ruling that would have granted Ahmadis the right to practice their faith freely, after weeks of protests and death threats from hardline religious groups.

A history of mob violence

The incident in Karachi echoes other instances of mob violence rooted in blasphemy accusations. In 2023, dozens of churches in Jaranwala were attacked and ransacked after mosque loudspeakers broadcast accusations against a Christian man. Hundreds of Muslim rioters stormed the streets, destroying homes, burning down places of worship, and terrorizing the local Christian community.

Blasphemy accusations in Pakistan often result in mob justice, where even unverified claims can provoke deadly violence. The mere allegation is often enough to incite attacks, sometimes encouraged by local clerics or political figures seeking to stir unrest or distract from other issues.

Behind the legal statutes and political posturing are the lives of thousands of ordinary people whose only “crime” is adherence to a belief system outside the mainstream. The mob kills Ahmadi man in Karachi tragedy is not just about one man’s death—it is about a society’s failure to uphold basic human dignity.

The deceased man’s family, now likely fearful for their own safety, will receive no justice in a system that does not recognize their rights. Instead, the cycle of persecution continues, fueled by a toxic mix of political opportunism, religious fundamentalism, and institutional silence.

A call for accountability

Rights groups have urged the Pakistani government to investigate the incident and hold the perpetrators accountable. However, with past cases rarely resulting in meaningful prosecutions—and with the state’s own laws contributing to the problem—few expect justice to be served.

The international community, including watchdogs such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, have repeatedly called on Pakistan to repeal discriminatory laws and protect religious minorities. But reforms have been slow or nonexistent, often met with violent resistance from Islamist parties that wield significant influence in the streets and in Parliament.

As Pakistan faces mounting economic, political, and security challenges, the state’s continued tolerance—if not endorsement—of religious persecution only deepens its internal fractures. The mob kills Ahmadi man in Karachi incident is a warning sign: when law enforcement yields to extremism, and when minorities are criminalized for their identity, the rule of law ceases to exist.

Ending this cycle will require political courage, legal reform, and a sustained commitment to protecting human rights—none of which can be achieved without confronting the powerful forces that profit from fear and hate.

For the Ahmadiyya community and other persecuted minorities in Pakistan, the question is not just one of survival, but of dignity, equality, and freedom in a country that continues to deny them all three.