Another horrible news item from Pakistan – Dawn reports that a US-based doctor in Pakistan to do humanitarian work was murdered as he visited an Ahmadi cemetery.
The doctor was in Pakistan on a short visit to do voluntary work at the Tahir Cardiac Hospital, a private institution that he himself helped build a few years back.
And that’s his reward.
The Wall Street Journal has more.
An American doctor of Pakistani origin was shot dead in central Pakistan by unidentified gunmen on Monday, police said, in an attack that appeared to target him because of his membership in the minority Ahmadiyya religious community.
Dr. Mehdi Ali, 50, was walking with family members in the town called Chanab Nagar, also known as known as Rabwah, in the Punjab province, at around 5 a.m. when two gunmen on motorcycles shot and killed him, police official Tariq Warraich said.
Good old religion, motivating outgroup hatreds for thousands of years. Thank you, religion; that’s so useful.
The Ahmadiyya community’s spokesman, Saleem Uddin, said Dr. Mehdi, an Ohio-based cardiologist, had arrived in Pakistan on Saturday for a week of volunteer work at the Tahir Heart Institute, a hospital run by the community.
“He was a gentle, charitable man with no enemies. We don’t know who could have done this, but everyone is aware of the campaign against our community,” Mr. Uddin said. “They have killed someone who came back to Pakistan to help the people here, regardless of their faith.”
Mr. Warraich, the police official, said there had been no threats to Dr. Ali or the Tahir Heart Institute recently. However, another police official in Chanab Nagar, who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, said extremist organizations regularly distributed fliers against the hospital.
“We often see pamphlets and posters that say it is against Islam to be treated at this hospital because it is run by Ahmadis,” the police official said.
Dr. Ali is survived by his wife and three sons. His wife, his wife’s cousin, and one of his sons were walking with him when he was killed, said police and community members.
That’s so sickening, and heart-rending. Dr Mehdi does a good thing, so fanatics tell everyone not to make use of that good thing because of a trivial meaningless religious difference, and for good measure they murder Dr Mehdi.
People, do good things, not bad things.
“Good people do good things, bad people do bad things, but for good people to do bad things, it takes religion.” – Steven Weinberg
But Ophelia, slaughtering the enemies of the religion of peace is a good thing.
Not sure what you’re getting at, Kevin Alexander, but Ahmadiyya is a branch of Islam: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmadiyya
Pakistan is slowly grinding to a complete halt as everyone accuses everyone else of being a blasphemer.
This kind of thing has been going on for decades.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esther_John
You forgot to mention that we’re all the better for it. Yes, religion deserves a protected and advantaged place in our society because it is so beneficial to one and all. Obviously. I shudder to think of the horror of a society without religion.
O_O
Ahmadiyyas consider themselves Muslim, but the Sunni majority in Pakistan do not. So of course, democracy…
Helping people ‘regardless of their faith’ is Fitnah and punishable by death.