Muridke (Punjabi / ), is a city and headquarters of Muridke Tehsil of Sheikhupura District in Punjab, Pakistan. It is the 37th most populous city of Pakistan as well 25th of the province Punjab. Muridke is a commercial area situated near the city of Lahore, at an elevation of 205 m (675 ft).Location of Muridke - Falling Rain Genomics

Geography It is 215 meters above sea level, with the land around being largely flat.[ Murīdke] at [ Geonames.org (cc-by)]. The area is largely agricultural and is serviced by nearby canals.

Temperature The average temperature is 23 °C. The hottest month is June, at 39 °C, and the coldest is January, at 7 °C.  The average rainfall is 955 millimetres (37 in) per year. The wettest month is September, at 289 millimetres (11 in) of rainfall, and the driest is November, at 11 millimetres (0.5 in).

Demographics

Population

According to 2023 census, Muridke had a population of 254,291. The city's population increased nearly ninefold between 1972 and 2017, from 18,507 to 166,652. Between 1998 and 2017, average annual growth was 2.1%, slightly lower than the national average of 2.4%.Pakistan: Provinces and Major Cities at citypopulation.dePopulation of major cities of Pakistan at citypopulation.de.

Education

Chand Bagh School is a private boarding school for boys in Muridke. It is situated on the Muridke-Sheikhupura Road. It follows the Cambridge International Examination system.Nauman Tasleem, Punjab govt donates Rs 60m to an elite school dated 17 June 2011 from Pakistan Today online at pakistantoday.com.pk. Retrieved 24 March 2012

Landmarks

Markaz-e-Taiba Muridke is known for being home to the Markaz-e-Taiba, the headquarters of Markaz Dawa wal Irshad (MDI) or Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD), the parent organisation of the militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), located in the suburb of Nangal Sahdan. The Markaz is a large 200-acre complex that has a range of infrastructure established by Hafiz Muhammad Saeed in 1990. Osama bin Laden, the former leader of Al-Qaeda, is believed to have contributed approximately PKR 10 million (roughly USD 100,000 at the time) towards the development of the complex.Ryan Clarke. "Lashkar-I-Taiba: The Fallacy of Subservient Proxies and the Future of Islamist Terrorism in India". US Army War College Press, 2010. p. 1-2. "Osama bin Laden is reported to have contributed Pakistani rupees (Rs.) 10 million to the construction of a mosque at MDI’s headquarters in Muridke, Pakistan, and is also believed to have built a guesthouse that he himself has stayed in. ... Muridke still serves as LeT’s headquarters and is largely financed by Middle Eastern and Pakistani donors. This joint complex now consists of a madrassa, hospital, market, residences for scholars and faculty members, a fish farm, and agricultural tracts. In addition, some claim that LeT operates around 16 Islamic institutions, 135 secondary schools, an ambulance service, blood banks, and several seminaries across Pakistan." The complex includes the Umm al-Qura Mosque, a madrasa, a religious preaching centre, residential quarters, a school, a hospital, a market, a garment factory, an iron factory, a woodwork factory, a stable, a swimming pool, a fishfarm, agricultural tracts and various administrative buildings. While it presents itself as a religious and educational institution, multiple international intelligence assessments and security reports have identified it as a hub for indoctrination, militant training and terrorist recruitment. In 2009, following the Mumbai attacks, the Punjab government took over the complex, and JuD continued to operate from there. The federal and provincial governments in Pakistan continued to allocate funds to the organisation.

The complex was targeted in an airstrike conducted by the Indian Air Force as part of Operation Sindoor on the night between on 7 May 2025. The Government of Pakistan has said that the complex is a civilian facility run by the Government. The Diplomat magazine said that Amir Hamza, a co-founder of LeT, gave a Friday sermon at the Markaz in March, and a leader of Pakistan Markazi Muslim League, an affiliate of JuD/LeT, was seen telling a gathering just a few weeks earlier that the "jihad" would continue. Several high-profile attackers, including Ajmal Kasab and David Headley underwent training at these facilities.

Notable people Iqbal Masih, former child slave and later activist Jaffar Nazir, first-class cricketer Bilawal Bhatti, international cricketer Imran Nazir, international cricketer

Notes

References