CAP Freedom of Conscience joins IHRC in denouncing the recent horrific and unacceptable attacks on the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Bangladesh
The world is now fully aware that members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Bangladesh suffered horrific brutalities at the hands of terrorising extremist Muslim clergy who destroyed Ahmadiyya properties, killed Ahmadi youth, destroyed, and put on fire a large number of residential houses and business premises.
During the attacks, Jahid Hasan, a young man around 25 years of age, was assaulted and slaughtered to death while trying to protect the convention grounds. Apart from the houses and shops one local Ahmadiyya Mosque of Darul Wahid Mohalla and Ahmadiyya Medical Clinic & Lab was set on fire and burnt to the ground.
IHRC has received from reliable sources of imminent attacks at the Ahmadiyya Centers of Nasirabad, Kafuria, Islam Ganj and Borchor in Bangladesh, on Friday the 10th 2023.
189 houses and 50 shops were set ablaze. Ahmadi Muslims were under attack for three nights; knives and iron rods were used during the attacks and Ahmadis were not able to sleep in peace. More than 100 Ahmadis were injured and four were rushed to the hospital under critical condition even women were not spared and many sustained minor injuries. It is particularly tragic that the attack took place in broad daylight, as police stood by and watched.
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Bangladesh holds its Annual Convention every year and each year the law enforcing authorities, the safety and security providing forces of Bangladesh assure Ahmadis of a peaceful Convention. However, very often on an occasion when the Ahmadis need the safety and security for their Convention, the authorities show complete indifference giving the extremist clergy the opportunity to incite public violence against Ahmadi Muslims.
A couple of years ago the Convention site was all burnt down by the extremist vandals and this year the Convention was dreadfully attacked and not only the structure was destroyed but the members of the Community were mercilessly murdered and tortured. This flare of violence has continued to this day. For the past three days there has been no peace for Ahmadi Muslims in Bangladesh. The clergy have the freedom to go about, address groups of vandals and incite them to go and attack and kill Ahmadis. This is a very tragic development which is bound to destroy the peace of all people, not only Ahmadi Muslims but the followers of other faiths as well.
We earnestly request the world community to impress upon the Government of Bangladesh to control and stop such extremism and terrorism getting out of hand. Countries which have not stopped such religious violence and controlled their extremist religious leaders, have ended up in the destruction of peace and harmony in the society and the whole country is suffering because of that.
Extremism is an evil which has no barriers. It spreads like a wildfire and the Government should take immediate action to stop it otherwise it will create colossal problems for the safety and security of the whole nation.
We urge the world Communities to impress upon the Government of Bangladesh to urgently take appropriate measures to provide safety and security to members of the Ahmadiyya Community in Bangladesh and ensure that the catastrophic incidents that happened during the past few days will never be repeated and that the Government will duly compensate those who have been the victims of this tragic violence.
On 13 July 2021, UN human rights experts expressed their deep concern over the lack of attention to the serious human rights violations perpetrated against the Ahmadiyya community around the world and called on the international community to step up efforts in bringing an end to the ongoing persecution of Ahmadis.
We once again strongly urge the international community to impress upon the Government of Bangladesh to honour its responsibility, to provide effective protection and freedom of religious practice to Ahmadis, take strong legal action so that the master minds and the perpetrators of such vicious attacks should be brought to justice, and to bring the implementations of its laws and practices in conformity with international standards as ordained by Article 20, United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights Article 2, 18 and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) Article 25, 26.
