Ahmadi couple found dead in Multan

LAHORE: Blindfolded bodies of an Ahmadi couple were found from their house in Multan with hands tied behind their backs. The two were doctors by profession and had been murdered on March 14, a press statement by the Ahmadiyya community said on Monday. According to the statement, Dr Shiraz Ahmad Bajwa (37) and his wife Dr Noreen Bajwa (29) were killed in a brutal attack at their house in WAPDA Colony, Multan. It said the two doctors had been receiving threats for some time due to their religious beliefs. The housekeeper found the body of Dr Shiraz in the bedroom, with visible marks of strangulation, and Dr Noreen in the living room, the statement said. staff report

http://dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2009\03\17\story_17-3-2009_pg7_10

Ahmadi Physicians Murdered in Pakistan for their Faith

TORONTO, March 17 /CNW/ - On March 14, 2009, in Multan, Pakistan, bodies
of a prominent physician couple Dr. Shiraz Bajwa (37) and Dr. Noreen Bajwa
(29), were found by their housekeeper in their home after they had been
brutally murdered. Both had received numerous death threats lately from
religious extremists because of their faith. Dr. Noreen was also pregnant with
the couple's first child.

Members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community are persecuted despite their
unblemished history as peace loving citizens. This spate of violence against
Ahmadis in Pakistan has been unprecedented. Currently, despite condemnation by
Human Rights Organizations, four Ahmadi boys (aged 14 to 16) remain in
custody, for the past seven weeks, due to their having been falsely charged
with blasphemy.

The murders of Dr. Shiraz and Dr. Noreen Bajwa mark the 99th and 100th
assassination of the Ahmadis since 1984, the 3rd and 4th in 2009 so far.

The body of Dr. Shiraz Bajwa was found in his bedroom with his hands tied
behind his back, his mouth gagged and his eyes blindfolded. His body showed
visible signs of strangulation. The body of his wife, Dr. Noreen Bajwa, who
was five month pregnant at the time of her death, was found in their living
room with her hands tied behind her back, her mouth gagged and her eyes
blindfolded. Her nose had been bleeding.

Dr. Shiraz Bajwa was an eye-specialist. He had served at the Fazl-e-Umar
Hospital (a hospital run by the Ahmadiyya Community in Rabwah, Pakistan) and
was working at the local hospital in Wapda Colony, Multan. Dr. Noreen Bajwa
worked at the local children's hospital.

"What occurred in Multan yesterday was an act of such cruelty that it can
never be comprehended by decent and peace loving people. . . . Pakistan is a
country that is currently facing absolute ruin. Amongst this chaos, the
hateful acts of religious extremists are ever-increasing to the extent that
loving, caring and innocent people are being murdered because they belong to a
community whose motto is 'Love for All, Hatred for None'," said Abid Khan,
Spokesperson for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community.

International media and human rights organizations are urged to call for
the protection of the rights and lives of the members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim
Community in Pakistan.

http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/March2009/17/c9460.html