On Sunday, a first information report (FIR) was filed in Faisalabad against Ahmadi community members for “hurting Muslim sentiments”, reports Dawn. As per the FIR, the religious sentiments of Muslims were hurt by the members of Ahmadi community by performing animal sacrifice.

Saleemuddin, a spokesperson for Jamaat-i-Ahmadiyya Pakistan, told Dawn that three people have been arrested as a result of the FIR. “The community is being persecuted,” he added.

According to the FIR, the people who have filed the complaint were in a mosque following Eid-ul- Azha prayers where they learned from their sources that Ahmadi community members were slaughtering animals inside their home.

They then “climbed the roofs of nearby houses, after which they saw that the Ahmadi community members were sacrificing a goat at one place while other members were cutting the meat of another animal at a different place”.

“The Islamic sentiments of the complainants and other Muslims were hurt by this and [the complainants] recorded a video which can be presented as evidence,” the FIR added.

“By performing a ritual in line with Islamic beliefs and presenting themselves as Muslims despite being Ahmadis, they have committed a cognisable offence, according to Muslim ummah’s belief, and this has grievously hurt Muslim sentiments,” the complainants stated.

The FIR was registered at Faisalabad’s police station Thikriwala against five people under Section 298-C of the Pakistan penal code.