Sunday, Dec 07, 2003
Ultimatum to declare Ahmadias `non-Muslims'
By Haroon Habib
DHAKA Dec. 6. Religious extremists in Bangladesh have warned that they would "capture" a mosque in Dhaka belonging to the minority Ahmadia sect if the Government failed to declare members of the community "non-Muslims", within 30 days.
Addressing a huge gathering near the mosque in Dhaka's Tejgaon area on Friday, leaders of the extremists warned that they would oust all the Ahmadias from Bangladesh by waging a "civil war" if their ultimatum went unheeded.
On November 21, a similar attack was launched by the extremists to capture the mosque but failed in their bid because of the police presence.
The extremist leaders declared the Ahmadias kafer (unbelievers) and announced that they did not have any right to stay in the country. The demonstrators also dubbed several Bengali newspapers as "enemies of Islam" and threatened to destroy any newspaper that called them "fundamentalists".
Last month, the imam of an Ahmadia mosque was killed by a frenzied mob in western Bangladesh, causing panic among members of the sect.
Copyright © 2003, The Hindu.