American doctor killed in Pakistan amid wave of violence aimed at Ahmadi Muslims By Tim Craig and Shaiq Hussain, Monday, May 26, 7:58 PM ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — An American doctor was shot and killed in eastern Pakistan on Monday, in the latest in a series of attacks targeting Ahmadi Muslims and other religious minorities here. Mehdi Ali Qamar, a cardiologist who practices in suburban Columbus Ohio, had traveled to Pakistan’s Punjab Province late last week to volunteer at a local heart clinic and visit relatives, according to Ahmadi community leaders. At around sunrise on Monday, he went to an Ahmadi cemetery to visit the graves of several family members. As he neared the gate, two men on motorcycles shot him 11 times in front his wife and infant son, officials said. A photograph of Qamar lying on the ground in a blood-soaked shirt was posted on Twitter, making him the latest symbol of the persecution facing members of the Ahmadi sect in Pakistan. Friends and relatives said Qamar, 50, grew up in Pakistan but moved to the United States more than a decade ago to pursue his medical career. “It is a major crime against humanity that a doctor who came a few days back to serve his country has been killed,” said Saleemuddin, a spokesman for Jamaat-e-Ahmadiyya, the group that represents Pakistan’s Ahmadi population. The Ahmadi movement was founded in 1889 by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, who said he was the messiah. The movement has about 10 million followers worldwide, including about 1.5 million in Pakistan. But some Muslims view Ahmadi as heretics, and they face persecution around the world. In Pakistan, the faith is outlawed. Ahmadis here are not allowed to call themselves Muslims and are not eligible to vote. Members of the sect also routinely face arrest under Pakistan’s strict blasphemy laws. In recent years, hardline Sunni clerics have fanned even more prejudice against Ahmadis, leading to growing concerns about their safety. In 2010, more than 85 people were killed when Taliban militants attacked two Ahmadi mosques in Lahore. Targeted killings against Ahmadis have resulted in more than 200 deaths in the past three decades, according to Jamaat-e-Ahmadiyya. Qamar Suleman, a Ahmadi activist in Lahore, said a 60-year-old shop keeper was killed last week while being detained in jail on blasphemy charges in the outskirts of Lahore. A man dressed in a police uniform slipped past the guards and shot him, Suleman said.
Posted on: Tue, 27 May 2014 02:24:01 +0000
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