Pakistan Ahmadi Professor Naeemuddin Khattak killed after having an argument with a lecturer over religious matters
Agencies
NEW DELHI: A Pakistani professor belonging to the persecuted Ahmadiya community was shot dead in Peshawar on Monday – International Teachers Day – allegedly over his religious beliefs.
According to Dawn daily, Prof Naeemuddin Khattak, 57, taught at the Government Superior Science College in Peshawar. He was gunned down when he and his brother were returning home from his college.
His brother said while he was on his motorcycle, Naeemuddin was driving his car. When they were passing through the Wazir Bagh area of the city, two men riding a motorcycle stopped the professor’s car, pumped five bullets into him and fled, according to Dawn.
He died on the spot.
Police says they have identified the suspects based on eyewitness testimony. A lecturer at the University of Agriculture, Peshawar, and another man have been named as suspects. The victim reportedly had an argument with the lecturer over a religious issue a day earlier.
Jamaat-i-Ahmadiyya Pakistan said the professor was targeted because of his Ahmadi faith.
Jamaat-i-Ahmadiyya Pakistan spokesperson Saleemuddin said Naeemuddin said, “Over the past few months, there has been an increase in faith-based attacks on Ahmadis. In Peshawar, an organised hate campaign has been launched against Ahmadis which has resulted in the killing of Ahmadis. The government has failed in providing protection to Ahmadis.”
On September 9, a mob almost lynched an Ahmadi family over suspicions that they were preaching their faith in the area.
On August 12, an Ahmadi man was shot dead in the Dabgari Garden area of the city.
On July 29, an elderly man facing trial on blasphemy charges, was gunned won inside a city courtroom in Peshawar.
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