Ahmadi man shot dead outside worship site in Pakistan's Punjab

Lahore,UPDATED: Sep 3, 2026 16:18 IST

A man from Pakistan's minority Ahmadi community was shot dead in Punjab province, with police saying the killing appears to have been linked to his faith. The incident took place on Wednesday in Mandi Bahauddin district, around 240 km from Lahore.

The Ahmadi community condemned the killing and called for strict action against those behind attacks and hate campaigns targeting Ahmadis. The incident has also renewed focus on the difficulties faced by religious minorities in Pakistan.

According to the FIR, Kamran Safdar told police that his father, Mirza Safdar Mahmood, who was in his 60s, left his auto workshop to offer prayers at an Ahmadiyya place of worship, Bait-ul-Zikr, when an unidentified gunman opened fire on him outside the site, killing him on the spot.

Safdar said it was a targeted killing in the name of faith aimed at spreading fear among Ahmadis. Police officer Kalbe Ali said that since the deceased had no enmity with anyone, it appeared to be a target killing related to his faith. "However, police are investigating from all aspects. We will soon arrest the suspect with the help of CCTV footage," he said.

Jamaat-e-Ahmadiyya Pakistan strongly condemned Mahmood's murder. Jamaat spokesperson Amir Mahmood said there was an urgent need to bring to justice those who murder Ahmadis and promote narratives of hatred and violence, and to punish them strictly according to the law.

"Like other parts of the country, hate campaigns and provocation against Ahmadis have been carried out on a continuous level in Mandi Bahauddin. Certain clerics in the area have even publicly issued horrific threats to Ahmadis. They also launched a targeted campaign threatening the murder of an Ahmadi police officer posted in the district of Mandi Bahauddin," he said.

According to the Minority Rights Group, religious minorities in Pakistan, including Christians, Hindus, Ahmadis, Sikhs and smaller communities such as the Kalasha, often live in impoverished and marginalised conditions marked by systemic discrimination, economic hardship and security concerns. "Although they collectively make up around four per cent of the population, these groups frequently live under a constant sense of fear and are often treated as second-class citizens," the organisation says.

Pakistan's Parliament declared the Ahmadi community non-Muslims in 1974. A decade later, they were barred from calling themselves Muslims. They are also banned from preaching and from travelling to Saudi Arabia for pilgrimage, as the killing in Punjab has again drawn attention to the pressure faced by the community.

With PTI Inputs

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