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June 23, 2006
Bangladesh: Islamists Attack Vehicles, Vow To Close Airport
We first described Bangladesh's Ahmadiyya community and the campaigns of persecution against them on December 20 last year. Bowing to pressures from Islamists connected with the Islami Oikya Jote, one of the 4 coalition partners in the government, the Bangladesh parliament officially banned all Ahmadiyya publications on January 8, 2004.
There have been numerous battles between the militants and members of the sect, who are regarded by many Muslims as "heretics". Although they claim to be Muslims, the Ahmadiyya (sometimes called Qadiani or Ahmadi) follow the teachings of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Qadiani (1835-1908). The Ahmadiyya follow a policy of respect for human life, but because they revere Ghulam Ahmed as a "prophet", they come into conflict with other Muslims. They are banned from Mecca, persecuted in Indonesia, and prevented from preaching to others in Pakistan, under the 1986 blasphemy laws.
On December 22 last year, we reported that the anti-Ahmadiyya groups International Khatme Nubuwat Movement Bangladesh (IKNMB) and Hifazate Khatme Nabuwat Andolon Bangladesh (KNAB or KNMB), led by the Islami Oikya Jote party leaders, announced they would pressure the government and cause unrest if they did not make the Ahmadiyyas illegal by December 23. They planned to lay siege to the Ahmadiyya complex at Bakshibazar in Dhaka.
On December 23 the anti Ahmadi groups kept to their word, and, with sticks and bricks, fought police who prevented them from accessing the mosque and complex. 57 people were injured in the violence.
Today, the Bangladesh Daily Star announces that the anti-Ahmadi fanatics are up to their old tricks again. KNAB members today announced that they were embarking on a week-long program including ordering strikes in Northern Dhaka on Sunday and Monday. They also said that they would shut down the Zia International Airport on Thursday.
It made the announcement after it had tried to lay siege to a mosque in Naddapara in Uttara Thana, Dhaka district. This was the latestevent in their three-year campaign to have the Ahmadiyyas declared to be "non-Muslims".
Police prevented the mosque attack this morning, and members of the group then tried to hold their Asr or morning prayers in Airport Road, blocking traffic. They were dispersed, apparently causing 20 individuals to be injured. The KNAB claimed 200 of their members had been injured.
The KNAB members went on the rampage, armed with large batons, where they attacked two buses (pictured above) parked near Zia International Airport, and tried to hang a sign at the Ahmadi mosque which read: "a worship place for non-Muslim Qadianis".
The "amir" of KNAB, Noor Hossain Nurani, announced that tomorrow they will be rallying out side the airport to protest police actions. He said: "No more peaceful programmes as the government did not pay heed to us even after laying seven sieges to the Kadiyanis [Ahmadiyyas] across the country in last two and a half years."
"We are now ready to shed blood, as much as the government wants, and if necessary to sacrifice our lives to realise our demands."
After today's Juma (evening) prayers several thousand KNAB activists staged a rally at Ashkona in Uttara. Then they went back to Naddapara mosque and once again tried to place their signboard. Nurani had hoped for an attendance of 100,000, but received only several thousand.
Earlier this month, on June 16, the anti-Ahmadi activists had prevented religious activities at Sarishbari in Jamalpur district, in the north of the country. The man who led this successful attack was Nural Hura Abedi of the Kamalpur Aramnagar Alia Madrassa. Abedi is the brother of the chief of the Islamist terror group Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), Abdur Rahman. Rahman and other leaders of JMB were sentenced to death on May 29.
Representatives of the Ahmadiyya sect officially thanked the government in its actions to prevent the violence of the anti-Ahmadi activists.
Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at June 23, 2006 4:04 PM
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