Anti-Ahmadi Hysteria: Will Bangladesh Act to Stop Sectarian Violence?

By Tanweer Akram

The Ahmadis of Bangladesh, a small religious community, are facing serious threats of communal violence and destruction of property, according to press reports over the past week. Yet, instead of moving to stop impending violence, the Bangladeshi government continues to turn a blind eye.

The Daily Star of Bangladesh reported recently on a demonstration of over 30,000 people in Tejgaon organized by an anti-Ahmadi group that “gave the government a one-week ultimatum to declare followers of the sect non-Muslims.”

In a follow-up report, the Daily Star wrote:

The government [of Bangladesh] appears little concerned about a one-week ultimatum by religious bigots to declare the Ahamadias non-Muslims and has made no move to resolve the crisis that many fear may escalate into a deadly violence…. Highly placed sources said it was clear that a faction of a ruling coalition partner was backing the anti-Ahamadia campaign, but coalition leader BNP did not take any initiative to discuss the issue with them.

The independent weekly newspaper Holiday also reported:

As we sip our cups of tea this morning, the Kadianis of Tejgaon are bracing themselves in fear. They are supposed to come under another attack today, this first Friday of December…. Two Fridays ago, the last one falling in the month of Ramadan on November 21, Dhaka saw its worst wave of sectarian attacks for some time. About ten thousand (by the police’s estimate) hoodlums under the banner of overzealous Sunni Muslims attempted to attack a small family-run Ahmadiya mosque on Haji Maran Ali Road in East Nakhalpara. Their contention — Kadianis are non-Muslims (kafirs) and hence have no place in the mosque.

Clearly the small Ahmadi community in Bangladesh, considered by many orthodox Muslims to have heretical beliefs, faces serious dangers. The real question is not the belief system of the Ahmadis, but why the state in Bangladesh should be in the business of deciding who is “Muslim” or not. Every person in a state should be free to practice his or her religion and religious beliefs. The state must be for all its citizens and not for any particular religion or religious groups, free from fear, intimidation and violence.

Article 18 of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states:

Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.

The citizenship rights, including that of religious freedom and free speech, of the Ahmadis, or anyone else, should not be contingent on their religious and theological beliefs.

The Ahmadi community derives its name from their religion leader Mizra Ghulam Ahmad Qadiyani (1835-1908). In South Asia the Ahmadi community are popularly known as the “Qadiyanis” or “Kadianis.” Most Muslims object to certain aspects of the theological tenets of the Ahmadis, including the alleged prophet-like status of Ahmad Qadiyani. There may be other theological differences. Certainly the Ahmadis have been persecuted for their religious beliefs, particularly in Pakistan, which officially declared the Ahmadis to be “non-Muslim.” However, the theological beliefs of the Ahmadis should be immaterial in the exercise of their rights to religious freedom, personal security, and other fundamental human rights.

The Bangladeshi authorities need to ensure that inflammatory incitements to violence and attempts to capture the property of Ahmadi religious institutions are immediately stopped. It is quite disturbing to learn that the government of Bangladesh appears to be indifferent to the threats that the Ahmadi community faces from bigots.

Throughout the Muslim world (by which I mean the countries in which Muslims constitute a majority of the population), there are numerous religious and sectarian minorities, such as Catholics, Protestants, Greek Orthodox, Alawites, Shias, Druze, Hindus, Buddhists, Bahais, Zoarastrians, and many others. All persons, irrespective of their ethnicity or religious and theological beliefs, should be able to live in peace, free from violence, intimidation, fear, harassment and mistreatment. A country’s true commitment to the principles of freedom and justice can be measured by its treatment of religious and ethnic minorities.

In Bangladesh ensuring safety and security of the country’s minority ought to be top priority for the authorities. Instead of catering to the whims of bigots, Bangladeshi authorities must act to stop the prospect of communal violence.

Action Item: Readers are encouraged to write to the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Mrs. Khaleda Zia, urging her to stop the bigots from carrying their threats against the Ahmadi community. The Prime Minister's email address is: pm@pmobd.org.

Tanweer Akram is an economist. His papers and reviews have appeared in Applied Economics, Journal of Emerging Markets, Kyklos, Savings and Development, and Third World Quarterly. He is also a regular columnist for Pressaction and occasionally writes for Swans.