From Reuters, “Bangladesh: Government Fails to Act Against Religious Violence Attacks on Minority Ahmadis Continue Amidst Censorship and Pogroms” with thanks to Skeet Street. The Ahmadis are a sect of Muslims who are considered to be apostates by Sunnis.
(KN)–an umbrella group of Sunni Muslim extremists–against the Ahmadiyya community. The KN and other extremist groups have attacked Ahmadiyya mosques, beaten and killed some Ahmadis, and prevented access to schools and sources of livelihood for others. They have demanded an official declaration that Ahmadis are not Muslims and a ban on all Ahmadi writings and missionary activities.
Founded in 1889 by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the Ahmadiyya community is a religious group that identifies itself as Muslim. It differs with other Muslims over the exact definition of Prophet Mohammad being the “final” monotheist prophet.
Under the Bangladesh National Party-led government, discrimination and violence against the Ahmadis has intensified. The report documents the government’s failure to prosecute those responsible for anti-Ahmadi violence. It condemns the January ban on all Ammadiyya publications imposed by the government.
The Jamaat-e-Islami and the Islamic Okye Jyote, junior coalition partners in the government, do not recognize the Ahmadis as Muslims and have been involved in fomenting religious violence against them and other religious minorities.
“It’s a dangerous moment in Bangladesh when the government becomes complicit in religious violence,” said Brad Adams, executive director of Human Rights Watch’s Asia Division. “The authorities have emboldened extremists by failing to prosecute those engaged in anti-Ahmadi violence and by banning Ahmadiyya publications.” …