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Ahmadiyyas seek govt protection
Bigots’ leaflets ask the community to leave Satkhira

Leaders of the Ahmadiyya Jamaat in Munshiganj union in Shyamnagar upazila in the district yesterday have sought the administration’s protection after receiving an eviction threat from the International Khatame Nabuat Movement (IKNM).

Addressing a press conference at Sundarban Bazar in Shyamnagar, Ahmadiyya leaders said over 4,000 members of their community are now panic-stricken following the distribution of the leaflets in which IKNM asked them to leave the area and urged the government to declare them non-Muslim.

The leaflet distribution followed the formation of a 21-member IKNM committee there during a visit by one of its central leaders, Noor Hossain Noorani, on March 18.

The Ahmadiyya community members have been threatened since then, its leader GM Mobarak Ahmed said in a written statement read out at the press conference.

Shyamnagar Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Solaiman Mondol visited the area yesterday and assured them of all possible measures to protect them.

At a press conference held in Khulna on April 7, the Khulna district unit of IKNM threatened ‘dire consequences’ if the Ahmadiyas are not declared non-Muslim.

It also announced a series of programmes as part of their agitation in Satkhira and other districts, including a rally, mass contact, a procession and laying siege to Ahmadiya establishments.

As per the programme, Khatme Nabuat men will bring out truck and motorbike processions following their mahfil (congregation) at Harinagar High School grounds on April 16, and will then lay a siege to the Ahmadiyya complex at Sundarban Bazar on April 17.

The Islamic Shashantantra Andolon, headed by the Chormonai Pir, has also extended its support to the programme, said a leader of the Ahmadiyya Jamaat seeking anonymity. The Ahmadiya community members at Chhoto Betkhali village are now passing their days in panic after the announcement of the programmes.

Women and children in the village are confined to their houses and the children do not attend schools, people of the community said yesterday.

When contacted, Shamnagar police said they are taking measures for the protection and security of.

Source: http://www.thedailystar.net/2005/04/11/d5041101098.htm