Ahmadis of Chantara are under Threat!

Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama'at, Bangladesh

Ahmadis of Chantara are under Threat!

After about an year and a half, Ahmadis of Chantara village under Ghatail Upozilla (Police Station) of Tangail district are under threat again!

Background:

Last year (18th June 2010) a makeshift Tin-shed Ahmadiyya mosque and a house were vandalized by some fanatic people led by Imam Mufti Nasiruddin. Daily Star Report, 19.06.2010.

After that there were further attacks on Ahmadis on 7th & 8th August, 2010, when almost all the houses of 40 (forty) Ahmadi families were vandalized, looted and many were injured. See the link below:

 Attack Photos
 Boishakhi TV footage 08.08.2010

Again there was fresh attack on Ahmadis on 18th October, 2011, this time 6 Ahmadis including a lady were severely injured. See the link below:

 Attack October, video footage
 Daily Start Report

Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at arranged Press Conferences, issued Press Notes and met and submitted documents to high-ups of the government including Ministers belongs to that area, MP of that area, IG of Police and sought justice and appealed to uphold the basic human and citizen rights of Ahmadis. We were assured that justice will be done and rights of Ahmadis will be protected.

Recent Incident:

On 13th November, 2011, almost one and a half years after, local Ahmadis of the village Chantara took initiative to set a tin-shed boundary to protect the place of mosque that was vandalized and looted by the fanatics in last year. But unfortunately, bowing down to the demand of fanatics Officer In-charge and UNO of Ghatail Upozilla stopped Ahmadis to erect the tin-shed wall and in their presence all the construction material were taken away.

Now the question are :

• Aren’t the Ahmadis citizens of Bangladesh.
• Don’t they have the rights to protect their own properties.
• Isn’t their constitutional and basic human rights to build their place of worship/mosque and practice whatever they belief?
• Can Administration do injustice to any of their citizens?

Govt need to act against Ahmadiyya tormentors

15/11/2011 00:00:00

Home | EDITORIAL |

Govt need to act against Ahmadiyya tormentors

MEMBERS of the Ahmadiyya community, a minority sect of Islam, are once again exposed to intimidation. This time, they have been barred from building a mosque at a village in Tangail, although, in line with Article 41 of the constitution, ‘every citizen has the right to profess, practice or propagate any religion’ and ‘every religious community or denomination has the right to establish, maintain and manage its religious institutions’. According to a report published in New Age on Tuesday, the victims have pointed fingers to the law enforcers, who are supposed to protect their rights, for that violation. A local leader of the Ahmadiyya community alleged that while members of the Ahmadiyya community at Chantara village under Ghatail upazila started fencing their land in a bid to construct a mosque Monday morning, the police came to the spot and stopped their activities apart from pulling down the fencing.

It is pertinent to recall that Ahmadiyyas are a beleaguered community in Bangladesh. A section of religious bigots have sought to prevent them from practising their faith for years. Besides, they have clamoured during this period that the government declare Ahmadiyyas as non-Muslims which is altogether affront not only to democratic values but also to the spirit of religious harmony. Worse, they have unleashed attacks on them and their homes and places of worship on several occasions. Regrettably, however, successive governments have hardly taken any deterrent steps against these crimes. Rather, they appear to have pursued an appeasement policy when it comes to dealing with such bigotry. All this may have, on the one hand, emboldened the bigoted elements in society to continue their misdeeds and, on the other, prompted the law enforcing agencies to give indulgence to the tormentors of the Ahmadiyyas.

Most people in Bangladesh, irrespective of their religious faiths, believe in communal harmony; the bigots are essentially a minority. If the government is serious, it can tackle such bigotry that is posing a danger to our syncretistic social fabric, developed over centuries. Ironically, the denial of rights of a community occurs at a time when a political force, which usually loves to be identified as the defender of that secular entity of the country, is in power. The incumbents indeed need to do something decisive to ensure the rights of all minorities, including the Ahmadiyyas, as well as to thwart the overall activities of the bigots.

URL: http://newagebd.com/newspaper1/archive_details.php?arcid=40099

Tangail villagers stop Ahmadiyyas from building mosque

15/11/2011 00:00:00

Home | FRONTPAGE |

Tangail villagers stop Ahmadiyyas from building mosque

Our Correspondent. Tangail

People in a Tangail village stopped the local members of the Ahmadiyya community from constructing a mosque for themselves on Monday.

Assistant superintendent of police Md Sajahan said that members of the Ahmadiyya community at Chantara in Ghatail started to build a mosque in the village about 11:00am but that other villagers stopped the work.

On hearing about the matter, the police from Ghatail police station went to the spot and removed both parties, he added.

Policemen have been deployed there to deal with any violence.

Local Ahmadiyya leader Rafiq Ahmed, however, said that local members of the community had started fencing their land to build a mosque but that the police had stopped their activities.

‘Not only that, but the police also broke our fencing and deployed extra policemen there,’ he said.

URL: http://newagebd.com/newspaper1/frontpage/40070.html