A 150,000 strong Muslim minority sect in Bangladesh called the Ahmadiyyas is under attack from a separatist group in the country, which warns they will face dire consequences if the government does not declare them non-Muslims before Friday.
| This is the way Jamaat e-Islami got its start, back in the Mother Country... |
In the last two months, attacks on the Ahmadiyyas by Sunni Muslim separatist groups have intensified, especially in the southwestern district of Kustia and the northern districts of Rangpur and Jamalpur. One member of the sect was killed in the southwestern district of Jessore.
| "That turban... He must be killed!" |
Ninety percent of Bangladesh's 130 million population comprises Sunni Muslims.
| They're the ones rolling their eyes and jumping up and down... |
Hailing from the central Bangladesh region of Brahmanbaria from 1912, the Ahmadiyyas follow the same rituals as the Sunnis, apart from their belief that Imam Mehdi, the last messenger of Prophet Muhammad, has already arrived to uphold Islam as it was preached 1400 years ago. The Sunnis, on the other hand, believe Mehdi has not yet arrived.
| "He'll be here. He's changing his turban right now..." |
In one of the largest anti-Ahmadiyya protests last Friday, more than 30,000 separatists under the banner of the Khatme Nabuat Movement Coordination Committee (KNMCC) laid seige to an Ahmadiyya mosque in Dhaka. KNMCC President and cleric, Mohammad Mahmudul Hasan Mamtaji, "If the government ignores our demand, the anti-Ahmadiyya group would not be responsible for their fate."
| "We're never responsible for our own actions..." |
The cleric stresses that if the Ahmadiyyas wish to continue offering prayers in the mosque, they should run it in line with the committee's instructions.
| "You'll do things our way, or you won't do them at all!" |
"They cannot claim to be Muslims as they do not believe in Prophet Mohammad," thunders demonstrator Khaled Hossain while comrade Salam chants slogans of jihad (holy war), asserting that, "Nobody will stop us from eliminating the Ahmadiyyas."
| The Religion of Peace™... |
Reportedly, the Islamic Oiyko Jote (Islamic Alliance) — which is an alliance partner in the ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party government — tacitly supports the anti-Ahmadiyya movement.
| Oh, doesn't that come as a surprise! |
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