A man belonging to Pakistan's persecuted Ahmadiyya minority was beaten to death by a mob in Karachi. The mob, allegedly consisting of members of Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), reportedly barged into Ahmadiyya's place of worship in Karachi's Saddar to stop them from observing religious rituals, police said. The mob consisted of 400-600 men.

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"One member of the community was killed after the mob identified him as an Ahmadi. They attacked him with sticks and bricks," Muhammad Safdar, a senior local police official, told news agency AFP.

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Speaking to Dawn.com, South Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) Syed Asad Raza said that the deceased went to the site of the incident when he learned about TLP supporters storming the Ahmadiyya Hall in Saddar. "We have decided to lodge a murder case against the TLP leaders and workers. We are waiting for relatives to lodge the first information report (FIR). If they do not register the case, then the FIR will be registered on behalf of the state against the TLP workers...No one will be spared," the DIG said.

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Raza also told Dawn.com that the police retrieved CCTV footage of the incident, which showed that the victim was filming the TLP protesters from behind the community hall with his cell phone when someone from the mob identified him.

"They initially beat him. When he fell to the ground, the mob began beating him more severely, leading to his death," he said, adding that the deceased was an active member of the Ahmadi community.

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The Ahmadiyya community is considered heretics by the Pakistani government. The Pakistani administration has made it illegal to call them Muslims and for them to use Islamic symbols. They are also often blocked from voting. The group dates back to a reformist theologian in the late 1800s and they consider themselves a "Muslim reform group." There are an estimated 12 million Ahmadiyya in the world. They have been persecuted for decades, but threats and intimidation have intensified in recent years.

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Human Rights Commission demands action; TLP denies allegations

The Human Rights Com­­mission of Pakistan (HRCP) released a statement on the incident and said that it was “appalled” by the incident, which it denounced as a “failure of law and order” that was a “stark reminder of the continued complicity of the state in the systematic persecution of a beleaguered community”.

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The Sindh Human Rights Commission (SHRC) took notice of the incident and directed DIG Raza to conduct a thorough, impartial and expeditious investigation through a senior/competent officer with efforts to focus on identifying and apprehending the culprits.

Meanwhile, TLP spokesperson Rehan Mohammed Khan while speaking to Dawn.com that the party had nothing to do with the lynching. He said, "Our stance is clear...What is the evidence for the DIG and SSP (senior superintendent of police) who are blaming the TLP workers for killing the man?"