Dhaka, Bangladesh - Leaders of the Ahmadiya Muslim Jamaat on Wednesday expressed their grave concern over a programme to lay siege to an Ahmadiya mosque in Satkhira on April 17 by certain Islamist activists.
The leaders, at a media conference at the Ahmadiya Complex in the Dhaka city, urged the government to take necessary measures to stop persecution by Islamist extremists and to protect their places of worship.
The International Khatme Nabuwat Movement, a forum of Islamist extremists, are distributing leaflets and calling upon the people to participate in the siege at Jyotindranagar village in Shyamnagar upazila.
Mir Mobasser Ali, nayeb-e-amir-2 of the Ahmadiya Jamaat, said unabated persecution of Ahmadiyas by the religious fundamentalists is not only violating the rights of the sect but also tarnishing the image of the country at home and abroad. Earlier the law enforcers had hung a signboard on an Ahmadiya mosque, naming it as ‘upasanalaya’, at Bogra on March 11, he said.
Another leader, Abdul Awal, said the police and local administration failed to tackle the mob as they were not prepared when the Bogra incident took place. He suspects that the local administration is also not well prepared to tackle any such situation at Shyamnagar. ‘Ahmadiyas want to see the rule of law,’ he said, adding that once there was social and religious harmony among different religious groups at Jyotindranagar. ‘Now there are 4,000 Ahmadiyas there who live in constant fear.’