On Thursday, 15th May 2025, Dr. Sheikh Mahmood, a 58-year-old gastroenterologist and member of the persecuted Ahmadiyya community, was shot and killed in Sargodha. He is the third Ahmadi murdered in Pakistan in just the past month.
Dr. Mahmood wasn’t just a doctor. He was a father of four, a husband, a son, and a man who—despite facing constant threats—continued to serve his community through his medical practice and humanitarian work. He had earlier been forced to leave his job due to pressure from extremist groups opposed to his faith. But he didn’t stop helping people. He didn’t run away. He stayed. And now he’s dead.
This isn’t an isolated act of violence. It is part of a systemic pattern fueled by Pakistan’s draconian blasphemy laws and the state’s silent complicity in the persecution of religious minorities—especially Ahmadis.
Let us be absolutely clear: Pakistan’s blasphemy laws are not protecting religion; they are enabling murder. Under these laws, Ahmadis are not even allowed to call themselves Muslims. Their mosques are desecrated, their literature banned, their very identity criminalized. And time and again, their lives are taken—with impunity.
Dr. Mahmood’s killing occurred in an area already known for hostility toward the Ahmadiyya community. Human rights groups and civil society have raised alarm bells for years. And yet, little changes. There is no meaningful state protection. There is no political courage. There is no justice.
How many more doctors, teachers, students, and laborers must die before we acknowledge the truth? Pakistan’s blasphemy laws are not about protecting faith. They are about controlling belief. They are about silencing dissent. They are about legitimizing hatred.
And they must end.
We call on the government of Pakistan to launch an immediate and transparent investigation into the murder of Dr. Sheikh Mahmood. We call for the repeal of the blasphemy laws that embolden such acts. We demand protection for all religious minorities—not as a favor, but as a constitutional right.
Dr. Mahmood deserved better. His children deserved to grow up with their father. His patients deserved to keep their healer. And Pakistan deserved the kind of compassion and service he gave freely, even when his life was on the line.
Ending blasphemy laws is not just a legal issue—it is a moral imperative. And the time to act is now. Before another life is lost. Before another name becomes a hashtag. Before we all drown in the silence of our own complicity.
#EndBlasphemyLaws
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