Two traders have been arrested in Pakistan on blasphemy charges for putting up a "hate" notice against minority Ahmadi community in their shop here, a rare move by authorities against hate preachers.
Shopkeepers Abid Hashmi and Muhammad Nauman had posted a notice on the entrance of their shop in Gulberg area in the largest IT market in Lahore declaring Ahmadis 'infidels' and banning their entry in their outlet, DIG Haider Ashraf said.
Acting on a complaint, a police team raided the shop and arrested both traders yesterday. A case has been registered against the suspects under blasphemy charges (215-A) of Pakistan Penal Code and the Maintenance of Public Order.
The DIG said the action against the traders has been taken in accordance with the National Action Plan (NAP).
"The NAP will be implemented at all cost and strict action taken against violators," he added.
The suspects were presented before a judicial magistrate who sent them to jail on judicial remand.
Hafeez Centre Traders' Association president Farooq Butt said police should refrain from intervening in matters related to their faith.
"We should have freedom to practice our faith. If someone expresses his feeling towards a particular group nobody should have any objection to it," he said.
Earlier this month, some candidates in local body election in Punjab province especially in Jhang and Bhakkar districts got it printed in posters that Ahmadis should not vote them. The rivals of such candidates said they had done so to attract religious voters.
The hate crimes against Ahmadis in Pakistan especially Punjab are on the rise.
Pakistan's Ahmadis consider themselves Muslim but often face persecution. They were declared non-Muslims through a constitutional amendment in 1974. A decade later, they were barred from proselytising or identifying themselves as Muslims.
Some 1.5 million Ahmadis live across the country.
