80 DEAD IN ATTACKS ON PAKISTAN MOSQUES

TWO MOSQUES USED BY MINORITY AHMADI SECT
ATTACKED WITH GUNS, GRENADES AND SUICIDE VESTS

ISLAMABAD (latimes.com) - Taliban militants with assault rifles, suicide vests and grenades attacked a pair of mosques of a minority religious sect in eastern Pakistan, killing at least 82 people and taking a number of worshippers hostage before being overcome by police. They attacked two mosques in Lahore belonging to a minority sect, at the time there were thousands of worshipers inside. The coordinated attacks illustrate the vulnerability of groups considered outside the mainstream of Pakistani society. The Ahmadi sect is one of the country's most beleaguered minority groups. Numbering about 4 million, they consider themselves Muslims but believe their late-19th century founder, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, was a prophet of God. That is heresy for most Muslims, who believe Muhammad was the last prophet. Ahmadis suffer severe discrimination in Pakistan and are legally barred from calling themselves Muslims.

The attacks occurred during Friday prayers as Ahmadis filled two of the sect's mosques in the neighborhoods of Model Town and Garhi Shahu. In both cases, militants were able to easily get inside the mosques, where they opened fire with guns and threw grenades at terrified worshipers. At the Garhi Shahu mosque, two of the attackers detonated suicide vests in the main hall. At least 91 people were injured. The Punjabi Taliban, a wing of the Pakistani Taliban comprising several Punjabi extremist groups, claimed responsibility for the attacks. Punjab is Pakistan's wealthiest and largest province, but it is rife with violent sectarian groups that prey on religious minorities such as Ahmadis, Christians and Shiite Muslims. The extremist groups, operate freely throughout Punjab province.


This is one the worst terrorist attack during Friday prayers of the Ahmadiyya sect, one of the most relentlessly persecuted communities in Pakistan by the pressure of orthodox Muslim groups. When will people understand that minority religious sects are also part of the universal brotherhood of men and they share the common fatherhood of God?

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?

The great reformers will always assert that they have come not to destroy the old law, but to fulfill it. Valmiki, Vyasa, Plato, Jesus, Mohamed, Confucius and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu assert this fact, either expressly or by their conduct. ... They all hunted after the Great Spirit, the unconditioned Soul of the Universe. They could not but get an insight into it. Their words and expressions were different, but their import is the same. ... The true critic is a generous judge, devoid of prejudices and party spirit, that great enemy of truth, will always baffle the attempt of the enquirer and will make him believe that Absolute Truth is nowhere except in his old religious book.

Śrīla Bhakti Raksaka Sridhara Mahārāja :
“Ocean of Nectar” - Introduction
http://bvml.org/SBRSM/books/index.html