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IV. Human Rights Abuses Against the Ahmadiyya

Discrimination and violence against the Ahmadiyya in late 2003 and early 2004

This chapter presents some illustrative cases of human rights abuses against Ahmadiyya in late 2003 that directly preceded the government’s decision to ban the Ahmadiyya publications As noted above, this is not intended to be a complete chronology, nor do we provide an exhaustive list of incidents. Limitations on access to certain parts of Bangladesh and the unwillingness of some Ahmadis to speak for fear of retribution have limited what can be presented here. Even so, the cases that follow demonstrate how dangerous the climate has become for Ahmadi’s in Bangladesh and illustrate how inadequate the government response has been.

The Bangladesh government is obligated under international human rights law to protect the rights of members of the Ahmadiyya community and other religious minorities. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which Bangladesh is a party, ensures the rights to freedom of religion and expression.66 Bangladesh is obligated to afford all persons the equal protection of the law and to provide to effective protection against discrimination based on religion.67 The members of religious minorities should not be denied the right to practice their own religion.68

Killing of an imam, assault, and damage to a mosque in Jessore

On October 31, 2003 at about 2:15 p.m., a large armed group attacked members of the Ahmadiyya community at Raghunathpurbag under Jhikargachha sub-district in Jessore. Mohammed Shah Alam, president and local imam of the Ahmadiyya community in Jhikargachla, died from injuries received outside the Ahmadi mosque, which sustained considerable damage in the attack.

Mohammad Ataur Rehman, an Ahmadi and Raghunathpurbag local, witnessed the attack that led to the death of Shah Alam:

Imam Shah Alam became an Ahmadi in 1988 and brought me to the faith in 1993. On the morning of October 31, Maulana Aminur Rahman, a J.I. leader, brought us the newspaper and said “Qadianis [Ahmadis] in Uttar Bhabanipur are being taught a lesson. Now, nothing will happen to us if we beat and torture Qadianis.” In the afternoon, after Friday prayers, Shah Alam, I and Abul Bashar were sitting together outside our mosque. It was the holy month of Ramadan and we were all fasting. A big crowd emerged from the neighboring [Sunni] mosque. The mob was led by Maulana Aminur Rahman and the most belligerent (who subsequently attacked us) were Aminur Rahman, Hobi, Salim, Shahid, and Tuzam. They first spoke to me directly. Hobi said to me that if I didn’t leave the Ahmadi mosque and start praying in the Sunni mosque, my bones would be broken. I stood silently and said nothing in response. Hobi moved towards me and punched me in the face. Then he told Bashr the same thing and hit him. Then he turned towards Imam Shah Alam and said that we would all have to leave the Ahmadiyya Jama’at or they would isolate us and kill us. Shah Alam replied that we were content in our house and they should be in theirs. Upon hearing this they started beating us all indiscriminately.69

Abul Bashr described what happened next:

They started hitting us with bamboo sticks. The beat us and beat us. We tried to escape but it was not possible. Shah Alam was being beaten particularly harshly by Aminur Rahman and Shahid. They continued hitting us with the bamboo sticks, particularly on the head. I could see that Shah Alam was getting badly injured. They beat his brain out of his head. I could see it. We asked them to stop as we could see Shah Alam was dying and had to be taken to hospital. But they did not. The entire incident lasted about thirty minutes. That is all I remember clearly. My memory has suffered as a result of what happened.70

Shah Alam died the same day. While Rahman fled in the aftermath of the killing, his followers continued to threaten the Qadianis and Shah Alam’s two sons went into hiding.71 Shah Alam’s widow filed a police report immediately after the Jessore attack and identified sixteen people responsible for the murder of her husband, including Maulana Aminur Rahman.72

One villager, Abdul Qadir, a Sunni Muslim, told Human Rights Watch that the incident occurred after Aminur Rahman, a local J.I. leader, called upon his followers to attack the Ahmadis, saying that Ahmadis were non-Muslim and to stand against them was a form of jihad.

I don’t believe their [Ahmadis’] religion but I discussed religion with them often. A few days before the incident, I heard that Aminur Rahman was instigating people against the Qadianis and planning a big attack on them. On the day of the attack, I was in the mosque for Friday prayers and Aminur Rahman said in his sermon that if the believers beat the Qadianis, there will be no punishment. He then organized the mob. Shah Alam was killed only because he was an Ahmadi and it happened in front of me. There are so many religions in the world and no religion asks you to kill and bring people back forcibly to the faith. These people [the perpetrators] should be punished.73

Justice K.M. Subhan, a former judge of the Bangladeshi Supreme Court and human rights activist, who visited the area immediately after the murder, told Human Rights Watch:

Shah Alam and his family had been harassed prior to the attack. Members of K.N. and J.I. had obstructed his path to work, destroyed water wells near his house to cut off the water supply to his family, and had harassed his children en route to school. Shah Alam’s widow and daughter viewed the attack on Shah Alam from only a few meters away through the window of their home. Alam’s daughter cried and ran towards her father as he was beaten to death. The idea was to kill Shah Alam brutally so family members will remember what it is to not be a member of the faith.74

To date, Bangladeshi officials have not apprehended the alleged killer of Shah Alam, despite eyewitness accounts readily available from Shah Alam’s wife, other witnesses and the press.75 The Bangladeshi government has not investigated the role in the a attack of the J.I. leader despite evidence of his involvement.76

Discrimination, denial of education, and ill-treatment in Kushtia District

On October 21, 2003, in the village of Uttar Bhabanipur in the southwestern Kushtia District, a group of local Islamic leaders declared seventeen Ahmadi families “excommunicated” and held them virtual prisoner in their own village for twenty-five days. During this period, these families were forbidden from buying or selling goods, from sending their children to school or from harvesting crops. A local Ahmadi, Mohammad Shabbir Ali, told Human Rights Watch:

I was about to leave for Dhaka in mid-October when I first heard rumors that an attack was about to take place against Ahmadis in Uttar Bhabanipur and Ahmadis would be tortured. This attack was being planned by local extremist mullahs. I knew that Jalal, a local BNP leader, and Abdur Rajjak and Moulana Mojammel of the Jamaat-e-Islami were involved in the planning. I was very afraid when I heard this.77

Around this time, a meeting was held by local BNP and J.I. leaders in Dharampur Bazar to discuss further actions to be taken against the Ahmadis. 78 Afchar Ali, president of the Dharampur Union BNP, Moulana Abdur Rajjak, a local imam, and Moulana Mojammel presided over the meeting.79 At the meeting, a resolution was passed, demanding a total boycott of the Ahmadis. The boycott meant that from that day forward, Ahmadis would be able to travel only on their own lands and government roads, their children could not go to school, and other Muslims would not trade with them. 80

According to Shabbir Ali, local anti-Ahmadi leaders destroyed his crops in an effort to economically marginalize the Ahmadis:

My only family business was the paan [betel leaf] fields we owned. These people destroyed my fields. They claim others did it but we know it was them. When we discovered this, I returned and filed a complaint with the police. But the police told me that ‘We cannot disturb the entire village just for the sake of your fields. Why don’t you move somewhere else?’ I had no option but to bear the loss.81

The anti-Ahmadiyya boycott and other discriminatory acts in Uttar Bhabanipur can be traced to familial resentment against relatives converting to another faith. The BNP, J.I., and other orthodox Islamist elements have fully exploited family tensions, not just in Uttar Bhabanipur but in other parts of Bangladesh, to fuel anti-Ahmadiyya sentiment. Mohammad Mominul Islam, known as Raqeeb, a twenty-seven-year-old resident of Uttar Bhabanipur who converted to the Ahmadiyya faith, described to Human Rights Watch the beatings and torture he underwent at the hands of the village (including from members of his family) in the run-up to the boycott:

Troubles first broke out between the Ahmadis and the rest in 1999. As I had good relations with the Ahmadis, I supplied them with food during this period. I was not an Ahmadi then. In October 2003, as the boycott of the Ahmadis got underway, I again decided to supply them with food and clothing. I was seen delivering food to the Ahmadis by other villagers. The next morning, I woke up because I heard a commotion outside my house. I saw that a large mob was coming towards my house. My father, Maulvi Abdul Rajjak, and Jalal, a local BNP leader, were leading the mob. They asked for me to come out of the house. I saw that they were all carrying bamboo sticks and were threatening to kill me or beat me severely. I ran through the crowd. A large number of people followed me and surrounded me. They tied me up and dragged me back to the larger crowd. Someone then ordered that I be untied. Someone asked me if I was a Qadiani or a Christian? I replied that in the name of the Prophet (Muhammad) and God, I was an Ahmadi.82

Upon hearing Raqeeb’s confession, the mob tied and beat him up again. Several hours later, he was set free by the villagers. He collected his belongings that had been thrown out on the street along with his wife and daughter, and moved his family and their personal effects to his in-laws’ house. As he felt unsafe in the village, Raqeeb left the same day for Bheramara, a village about five kilometers away from his. When he arrived, he discovered that a missionary from the Ahmadiyya community was present in the village. Raqeeb took the formal oath of allegiance (Ba’ait) to the Ahmadiyya faith that day. Fifteen days later, he returned to his village.

As soon as I returned to the village, Mr. Jalal [the BNP leader] accused me of damaging the tube-wells that belonged to Mr. Wahab and Mr. Shabbir (two other Ahmadis). This was a total lie, of course. As I was talking to my cousin, I saw a large crowd wielding knives, sticks, and rods heading towards me. The crowd included my brother and father. They accused me of being a Christian and a Qadiani and asked me to repent immediately or I would be killed on the spot. I refused and told them it was the holy month of Ramadan, I was fasting and I could not lie. They tied a rope around my neck and took me to Mr. Jalal’s house. They tied me to a tree outside his house.

When it was time to break the fast, I was not allowed any food or water. My mother tried to give me some water but my father snatched it away from her and beat her. Then they decided to drag me to the police station but stopped at a local Madrassa instead. The Maulana [religious teacher] there beat me severely as well with a stick and his hands, telling me to leave the Qadianis. I did not obey. So they dragged me back to Jalal’s house where I was held captive. A few hours later the police came to the house but Jalal, my father, and others told the police I was not there. Hearing this I made a run for it. The policeman saw me and rescued me. They did this because my cousin Masoom had reported that I was being beaten and held forcibly.83

Even the end of the boycott did not spell an end to Raqeeb’s persecution at the hands of villagers. Trouble erupted again for him when he returned from an Ahmadi missionary training session on July 19, 2004. This time, the police, far from rescuing Raqeeb, joined in beating him.

Early in the morning, after the Fajr (dawn) prayers, a mob from the village surrounded my house, dragged me out, and tied me to a tree. Then they started beating me with sticks and rods. Then they carried me to the local market and beat me more, this time even more badly. Just when I thought I was going to die, local policemen came to the spot and took me to another house and then the policemen asked me to leave the Ahmadiyya faith. When I refused, the policemen started beating me. Then they took me to the police station and put me in the lock-up where they handcuffed me and beat me again. The next morning, at about 11 o’clock, the policemen took me to the district headquarters of the police and beat me again. Maulana Abdul Rajjak and others came to check what was going on. The Officer in-Charge informed them within earshot of me that they should not worry, the police would “deal” with me “properly.” The police said that it was clever of the village people to register a robbery case against me and that they would use that as an excuse to beat a Qadiani.84

Raqeeb remained in custody until he was granted bail on July 26, 2004, after legal proceedings were initiated by other members of the Ahmadiyya community to secure his release. A robbery case is pending against him and he has taken refuge in Dhaka and has not returned home.

Bangladeshi newspapers that covered the October 2003 events in Kushtia also reported that three Ahmadis from Dhaka had come to the area for three days to provide food secretly and to attempt to resolve the conflict, but were forced to leave after being confronted by a group of angry Sunni Muslims.85 According to press reports, when one of the Ahmadis from Dhaka, Shamsudain Ahmed Masoom, attempted to explain to the boycotting Sunnis why Ahmadis are Muslims, the Sunnis threatened to kill him.86

Ahmadi children in the district were also prevented from attending school. Some school teachers were complicit in enforcing the boycott. The boycott of Ahmadi schoolchildren centered around the Dharampur Intermediate Middle School. Human Rights Watch interviewed not only the victims of the boycott but also non-Ahmadi students of the school. One of the latter, who preferred not to be named, told Human Rights Watch:

I am one of the students here. The school and the school committee decided not to allow Ahmadis into the school and to strictly boycott them. So, our instructions from our teachers and parents were clear: if the Ahmadis go to the school, we will not. We are now going to school with them but we do not want to.87

Shabbir Ali is the father of three daughters who attended the Daharampur School. He was told by the leaders of the boycott that if his daughters continued to attend the school, he and they would be killed:

When I returned to the police with this complaint, they told me: “We cannot run the school just for your three girls. It would be better if you establish a separate school for them.”88

Shireen, a thirteen-year old Ahmadi girl described her experience of the boycott to Human Rights Watch:

On October 25, I went to school as usual. When I got there I was informed by another student that students had been told that Qadianis should be boycotted and not allowed to come to school. Then the local village leader Jalal told us: “If you come to this school, nobody other than Qadianis will be allowed to attend here. So it would be better if you just left the school. So why don’t you take a few days off.”89

Shireen returned to school thirteen days later on November 7, 2003. She described what happened:

When I returned to school, Jalal was very harsh and told me to go back home immediately. Another teacher, Mr. Jaffar said: “If Qadiani girls come to school, we will not teach them anything or even talk to them.” Mr. Razaul Islam, the Bengali Language teacher said the same thing. He also said: “If you persist in coming to school, we will tell the boys to tease you and do other terrible things to you.” After this, we did not go to school and one Ahmadi girl moved away from the village in fear.90

Bilquis Akhtar, another thirteen-year-old female student at the same school described her experience:

The Jamaat-e-Islami leader, Abdul Rajjak, came to my house and told my family and me that if I dared go to school, my parents would have to deal with the consequences. He told us that I would suffer in unspeakable ways if I went to school again. 91

Other students who faced the boycott reported similar experiences.

On October 27, members of the Ahmadiyya community filed a petition with the police, alleging deprivation of their fundamental human rights. One Ahmadi also filed a separate petition, alleging that he had been taken forcibly from his home and made to attend a Sunni mosque in an attempt to make him relinquish his Ahmadi faith. The Bangladeshi press widely reported that other Ahmadis were forced to sign papers stating that they had voluntarily returned to the Islamic Sunni faith.92

On October 28, 2003, the District Police Superintendent, Abdul Salam, visited the area and stated that he hoped the economic and social boycott would be resolved over time since both parties belonged to the Muslim faith. 93 Ahmadi Missionary Abdul Awwal told Human Rights Watch, however, that it took the murder of Ahmadi Imam Shah Alam a few days later in Jessore to induce the government to act decisively. At that point, the Home Minister Altaf Hossain Chowdury intervened and ordered the police to use their influence to end the boycott, which they did successfully.94

Anti-Ahmadiyya violence, hate speech and agitation: November 2003 to January 2004

In another case, during the month of November 2003, a Sunni Muslim group connected to the K.N. launched a virulent campaign to pressure the government to declare Ahmadis non-Muslim, protesting in the streets and attempting to forcibly enter and seize an Ahmadi mosque in central Dhaka. During the evening of November 20, 2003, a group of three hundred to five hundred men, led by Mahmudul Hasan Mamatazi, president of Khatme Nabuwat Committee, tried to storm an Ahmadiyya mosque in Nakhalpara in Tejgaon Industrial area, Dhaka.95 Chanting anti-Ahmadiyya slogans, the group besieged the mosque around 9:30 p.m. after night prayer and threw stones at the mosque.96 Alerted by local residents, law enforcement authorities dispatched twenty-four police officers who managed to disperse the crowd.97 Rafiq Ahmad, leader of the local Ahmadiyya community at the Nakhalpara mosque, who witnessed the scene from his neighboring house, told Human Rights Watch that the police denied Mamatazi and his group a request to pray inside the mosque and that police continued to guard the mosque after the incident.98           

On the following day, November 21, consistent with an announcement made the evening before, hundreds of Islamists gathered in front of Rahim Metal Mosque in Tegjaon to press the government to declare the Ahmadis non-Muslims.99 Shortly after noon, again at the exhortation of Mamatazi, around 500 men armed with iron rods, bamboo sticks, and stones tried to force their way into the Ahmadiyya mosque in Nakhalpara to evict its occupants from the area.100 They were intercepted by a battalion of 200 police officers who had been stationed at the mosque in the wake of the prior evening’s attack.101 Violent clashes reportedly broke out when militants tried to break through the police barricade. When policemen retaliated with teargas, militants went on a rampage, damaging several vehicles and torching different establishments in the area including a police outpost.102 They also dragged two police motorcycles to the middle of the road and set them ablaze.103 The group reportedly dispersed for the Friday prayer but launched a second attack shortly thereafter under the command of Mamatazi.104 The protestors, this time estimated to be between three thousand and five thousand,105 again engaged in violent clashes with the police, who used teargas and rubber bullets to push them back.106 Two cases were filed on the same day against Mamatazi, Namzul Haq (president of Bangladesh Imam Sanghati Parisad), Mojibur Rahman, Enayetullah Abbasi, Ehsan Idris, Nasir Uddin, Kala Mia and ten thousand to twelve thousand unknown others.107 Tejgaon Police Station sources informed the press that they had not received any directive to arrest anyone.108 However, on November 22, Dhaka Metropolitan Police Commissioner Ashraful Huda informed the media and NGOs that an investigation would be made and that the videotape of the attacks was being scanned to take action against the protestors.109

Over the next ten days, although things remained calm in Dhaka, anti-Ahmadi incidents occurred around the country. The Daily Star reported on several of these incidents. On November 28, an Islamist group attacked an Ahmadi man at Dharmapur in Madarganj upazila in Rangpur district. On December 1, a group of Islamic militants damaged an Ahmadiyya mosque in the Balardiya village of Sharishabari Pourasabha of Jamalpur district and called for an anti-Ahmadi demonstration the following Saturday. Militants also raided the house of Abu Sama Sarkar and threatened Ahmadis with arson if they did not leave the area, causing many Ahmadis to flee their homes. On December 6, 2003, about one thousand anti-Ahmadi demonstrators under the banner of K.N. went to the sub-district administration’s office at Sarishabari in Jamalpur and issued an ultimatum giving the government one week to declare Ahmadis non-Muslim. And on December 5, 2003, Islamists forced an Ahmadi man at Garobazar in Ghatail, Tangail district to sign a statement renouncing his religion.110

From November 2003 until early January 2004, Islamist groups held a series of demonstrations in various cities aimed at maximizing pressure on the government to declare the Ahmadis non-Muslim. On December 5, 2003, under the banner of K.N. Andolon Samannay Committee (KNASC)—another name used by organizations under the K.N. umbrella—and again led by Mamatazi, thirty thousand militants held a demonstration in east Nakhalpara, Tejgaon (Dhaka) and again issued an ultimatum giving the government one-week to declare the Ahmadis non-Muslims.111 The demonstrators, shouted hate slogans against Ahmadis and threatened them with arson.112 Mamatazi reportedly said that “the anti-Ahmadiyya group would not be responsible for the fate of Ahmadis” if the government failed to take action.113 In the presence of Mohiuddin Khan, a leader of the Islami Oikya Jote party, a member of the governing coalition, Mamatazi also reportedly announced a month-long anti-Ahmadi program.114

On December 19, 2003, 1,500 people took part in a demonstration organized jointly by K.N. and another Islamist group, Aamra Dhakabasi, on Mymensingh road in Dhaka.115 Those leading the demonstration threatened to paralyze the country if the government failed to evict the Ahmadis from Nakhalpara mosque by January 3, 2004.116 Addressing the demonstration at Tongi Muktijoddha Chattar, Mamatazi threatened to evict the Ahmadis from the area on January 9 upon failure of the government to take action.117

On December 26, 2003, Mamtazi and other Islamist leaders told 1,500 demonstrators on Shaheed Faruq Road in Dhaka that the government should declare the Ahmadis non-Muslims. Mamatazi is said to have threatened to paralyze the country if the government failed to oust the Ahmadis from the Nakhalpara mosque by January 9, 2004.118 Joint Secretary General of K.N., Nazmul Haq, also reportedly threatened to drive the Ahmadis out of their mosque on the same date.119       

On January 2, 2004, three thousand members of the K.N. took part in a demonstration on Mirpur-1 in Dhaka to gather support for the January 9 demonstration to drive Ahmadis out of Nakhalpara mosque.120 The demonstrators took an oath to launch a “holy war” against the Ahmadis if the government did not declare them non-Muslims by January 9.121 The demonstration was the last of a series of demonstrations carried out since November 21 to get support for the January 9 ultimatum.

The government ban on Ahmadi publications

On January 8, 2004, the government of Bangladesh authorized a ban on all publications of the Ahmadiyya community, one day prior to the deadline given by Islamist groups, led by the IOJ and the KNA, to declare the Ahmadis non-Muslim. The ban, enforcement of which subsequently was suspended by the courts pending further deliberations, violates Bangladesh’s obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to uphold the rights to freedom of religion and of expression.122 The Home Ministry’s press release stated that:

The government has banned the sale, publication, distribution and retention of all books and booklets on Islam published by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at Bangladesh, which includes the Bengali or any other translation (with explanation) of the Qur’an Majid. The ban has been imposed in view of objectionable materials in such (Ahmadiyya) publications which hurt or may hurt the sentiments of the majority Muslim population of Bangladesh.123

A day before the ban was announced, key government officials including State Minister for Religious Affairs, Mosharef Hossain Shahjahan, and State Minister for Home Affairs, Lutfozzaman Babar met with K.N. leader Mamtazi as well as several other KNA leaders.124 Ahmadiyya community leaders were not invited. At the meeting, the government agreed to institute a ban on Ahmadiyya publications. It also agreed that the two cases filed against the anti-Ahmadiyya group charged with assaulting policemen guarding the Nakhalpara mosque on December 5, 2003, would be dropped.125

By March 2004, twenty Ahmadi publications to be banned had been listed in an official circular. This indicated that the ban had been sent to the government’s official press for publication in the official gazette, which is required for the ban to have legal effect.126

The decision to ban the books came as a surprise given a statement made by State Minister Shahjahan on December 8,2003, in which he had asserted that “only God had the right to declare someone a non-Muslim.” Minister Shahjahan explained that the government’s sudden shift in position should be understood as a compromise necessary to prevent further campaigns and violence against the Ahmadiyya community.127 He said he took a chance and announced the ban “to save the minority groups from killing and to prevent the destruction of mosques.”128 He further explained that if the government had used the police and applied sanctions, the situation would only have deteriorated.129

Mahfuz Anam, the editor–in–chief of The Daily Star, told Human Rights Watch:

The government has allowed this issue to go too far. At first, there were just a few hundred people in the streets. But then it rose to eight or nine thousand. Why did they allow that?130

While Minister Shahjahan told our researchers that he passed the ban to prevent further violence, he himself recognized that the ban was “not a good thing and a hindrance to human rights.”131 Notwithstanding this, he argued that the ban would lead to a decrease in violence. He further noted that he anticipates the eventual repeal of the ban.132 Minister Shahjahan’s views were not shared by many of those Human Rights Watch interviewed. Journalist Mahfuz Anam explained: “The government will wait again until it becomes an unmanageable issue. There will be one concession after another.” 133

Minister Shahjahan himself indicated that further concessions would depend upon whether there is further violence, stating in a BBC interview, “I am not sure that the demand will come to pass. We are observing the situation. If the situation is peaceful, the demand will not be necessary.”134 The implication appeared to be that if the situation did not remain peaceful, the government might capitulate again to further demands of the Islamist groups.

The ban began to be “implemented” shortly after it was announced, often at the instigation of K.N. mobs. On April 6, in Shalkiri village (Ponchogorh district), the leader of the local chapter of K.N., Maulana Abdul Karim, arrived at Ahmadiyya houses in a police jeep and conducted searches for publications.135 Under the Penal Code, searches of homes may only be conducted pursuant to a magistrate’s warrant and require the presence of a police officer at the level of sub-inspector or higher. Central Ahmadi Missionary Abdul Awwal informed Human Rights Watch that the local Ahmadis asked the police if they had a warrant; they did not.136 The police officer, who was only of Assistant sub-inspector rank, told them he would come back.137 The Ahmadi missionary posted in Ponchogorh met with Deputy Commissioner Chowdhury on March 24, who told him that Ahmadis still have all their citizen rights, but that the police would go house to house to search for the publications.138

On April 16, 2004, approximately two thousand K.N. demonstrators gathered again in front of the Nakhalpara Ahmadiyya mosque in Dhaka.139 Although the police had been guarding the mosque for several months, they permitted some of the demonstrators into the mosque to seize Ahmaddiya publications that were listed in the ban. Indeed, instead of protecting the Ahmadis, the police entered the mosque along with protestors and seized the Qur’an and the Bukhari Sharif, a Hadith collection.140 The police then reportedly handed the books over to the protesting Sunni clergy.

On December 21, 2004, while not in session, Bangladesh's High Court temporarily suspended the order of January 8, 2004 banning the Ahmadiyya publications in response to a legal challenge launched by human rights groups in the country. The court issued an interim stay order suspending the ban pending the reopening of the High Court. It also directed that the ban not be notified in the official Bangladesh gazette. In January 2005, the High Court extended the stay order and it remained in effect at this writing.

The government’s response

Bangladesh is obligated under international human rights law to ensure that the rights of all individuals within its territory are respected, regardless of religion. Under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, this includes enacting legislation and other measures, including preventive action, to give effect to these rights. Furthermore, Bangladesh must ensure that any person whose rights have been violated has an effective remedy and that these remedies be enforced by the competent authorities.141 This includes an obligation to investigate the alleged violations and to ensure that similar violations do not occur in the future.142

On December 8, 2003, as already noted, State Minister for Religious Affairs Mosharraf Hossain Shahjahan properly rejected the demand that the government declare Ahmadis non-Muslims, saying in a press interview:

Now they [anti-Ahmadiyya groups] are demanding it…once the demand is met, they will want to capture a mosque, then a church….143

Minister Shahjahan also declared himself ready to talk with the agitating anti-Ahmadi groups.144

However, a month later, the minister himself announced the ban on Ahmadiyya publications. That same day, a government spokesperson told The Daily Star on condition of anonymity that the government would even consider declaring Ahmadis non-Muslims:

The government has not yet taken any decision on the issue of declaring the Ahmadiyyas non-Muslims. We discussed the demand but need to explore all aspects to reach a decision in this regard.145

The minister’s turnaround likely is explained by political considerations.

At a rally at the Bangabandhu Stadium in Dhaka on April 2, 2004, K.N. leader Mamatazi thanked the government on behalf of his organization for what he termed its correct decision to proscribe the translation of the Qur’an and other religious books of the Ahmadis. He then announced that he and his followers would take “all steps necessary” in order to push the government to declare the Ahmadis non-Muslim.146

On April 6, 2004, the Khatme Nabuwat Committee Bangladesh again threatened to launch a broader movement if the government did not declare Ahmadis non-Muslim by June.147 Lauding the January 8 ban on Ahmadi publications, Muhammad Shamsul Haq, a leader of the group, stated:

The government decision proves the rationale of our movement. Declare them non-Muslim or pay for it in the next general election.148

Through all of this, Prime Minister Khaleda Zia has noticeably failed to speak out in support of the right of Ahmadis to freely profess and propagate religion. While police protection has been provided to the Ahmadis and has in some cases prevented bloodshed, neither the police nor the government have taken serious or sufficient steps to stem threats and intimidation. Many Ahmadis live in fear, and the prime minister has done nothing to address this.

Discrimination and violence against the Ahmadiyya since March 2004

Incitement to anti-Ahmadiyya violence in Barguna District149

In March 2004, a little over two months after the ban on Ahmadiyya publications, over one thousand Ahmadis in the villages of Khakdah, Krishnagar, and Kukua, in Barguna’s Amtoli sub-district, felt the repercussions of anti-Ahmadi agitation themselves.150 On March 14 and 15, the K.N. organized a mahafil, or religious gathering, at the Kukuahat High School. Leaflets were distributed encouraging people to attend the gathering at the high school on those days to listen to sermons on religious teachings.151

Joynal Abedin, a villager from Kukua who attended the religious gathering, told Human Rights Watch:

Approximately three hundred to five hundred people, from Gajipur, Aamtoli, Kukua, Aulipur, Potoakhali, and other villages appeared to hear various mullahs speak about Islam At the time seven or eight mullahs spoke, including a few mullahs from Dhaka. Local mullahs, including Omar Faruq, Mezbuh Rahman, and Maulana Mulim Ali also spoke to the crowd. While many of the mullahs spoke about Islam, there were also anti-Ahmadiyya speeches.152

Lutfor Rahman, a primary school teacher at Kukuahat Government Primary School in Kukuahat since 1992 and member of the Ahmadiyya community, listened to the rallies on both nights from the side of the street.

At one point during the rally, Omar Faruq pointed directly at me and said, “Don’t send your children to his school.” Omar Faruq urged attending parents that I should be stopped on my way to school and efforts should be made to compel me not to continue with my [Ahmadiyya] community. He also said that I should not be allowed in the school until I leave the Ahmadiyya community.153

Kamal Ahmed, an Ahmadi in Khakdan, also attended the rally in order to find out what was being planned, despite the fact that some people who recognized him as an Ahmadi told him not to go. Fearing for his safety, he stood in a shop beside the high school field, along with two other men his age.

I heard Omar Faruq ask the crowd gathered to raise their hands if they were against the Ahmadis. Approximately 250 raised their hands. On the night of March 15, I heard Mullah Omar Faruq announce that on Friday, March 19, people would gather at the same high school field and then go to the Kadiyani mosque. Faruq said the people would capture the mosque, pray there, and then lock the mosque up. After a while, fearing that the shop itself was no longer safe, I left.154

The following day, Ahmed went to the police and filed a petition asking for the police to protect the Ahmadiyya community.155 Ali Ahmed Master, leader of the local Ahmadiyya community in Krishnanagar, told Human Rights Watch that he also filed a petition with the police, noting that the Ahmadiyya mosques were to be attacked and that the Ahmadis would be driven away.156 According to Kamal Ahmed, a police officer assured him that the Ahmadis in the area would be safe.157 For the next two days, the Ahmadis waited in fear as opposing factions drove rickshaws in the vicinity, using a microphone, announcing their plans to gather on the morning of March 19 to break the Ahmadiyya mosque for all to hear.158 One witness, Ali Ahmed Master, recognized those in the rickshaw threatening Ahmadiyya mosques as students of the madrassas in Aamtoli district.159

On March 19, a crowd gathered at the high school. As Ali Ahmed Master recounted the events to Human Rights Watch, this time local police acted effectively to prevent violence:

Around five hundred to six hundred people had gathered on the morning of March 19 around 10 a.m. Maulana Moslem Ali presided over the group, seeking to incite those present to violence. Meanwhile, the Ahmadis of Khakdan had gathered in their mosque in fear. At the same time, due to the supplications of the Ahmadiyya community, fifty to sixty policemen also arrived as the crowd moved in the direction of the Qadiyani mosque. The police stopped the mob and forced them to disperse. Five or six police officers came to the Khakdan mosque to ensure its safety and that of the Ahmadis while six police officers were sent to the mosque in Krishnanagar.160

Incitement to anti-Ahmadiyya violence and destruction of religious property in Dhaka

On March 26, 2004, a local group of thirty to fifty people in the Taltola area of Dhaka entered onto the land of Arman Ali and his wife, Anhar Ali, shouting anti-Ahmadi slogans and attacked their religious property. Five or six Ahmadi families live in the immediate vicinity of the Ali house.161 Arman Ali is considered the unofficial imam for the Ahmadi families in the area.162 At the time Human Rights Watch conducted its research there, he was building a mosque on the land behind his home and the Ahmadis were housing their religious books in a tin shed on the corner of his property.

Arman Ali and his wife, Anhar Parveen Begum, told Human Rights Watch that on March 26, a Friday, a crowd led by local mullahs gathered in the field outside Ali’s house and a few entered onto his property. According to neighbors who were present, the crowd chanted slogans such as “You belong to the Bush community,” “You are the pimps of the United States,” “You are not Muslim,” “If you want to live in our community, you have to do prayers the way we do.”163 They also shouted, “Qadianis won’t be able to build the mosque” and “We will burn your mosque.”164 Reportedly, one person in the crowd picked up a stick from the wood being used to build the mosque and tapped on the house, yelling, “Why are you scared? Come outside the house.”165 At the time, however, no one was at home since most of the family was away from the city and Anhar Ali had gone to another mosque in Dhaka. People in the crowd then took some of the Ahmadi religious books from the tin shed and threw them onto the roof of the Alis’ house.

Four days after this incident, Anwar Ali received veiled threats from two local Muslim leaders concerning the construction of the mosque. The two leaders informed Ali that they were under pressure from “external quarters” to tell him not to build the mosque. They also indicated that if the mosque were built, despite the fact that they were neighbors and friends, they would not be able to do anything if something were to happen to the mosque. While Ali informed Ahmadi religious leaders of the incident, he did not report it to the police.

In an another incident, members of the K.N. from Barisal district in south-central Bangladesh, declared on May 6, 2004 that the some twenty-seven thousand Ahmadis in the Barisal and Patuakhali districts would be forcibly evicted by May 12, and those in Chittagong by May 28.166 At a press conference, K.N. leader Mamtazi detailed the eviction program.167 The Islamic Constitution Movement and the IKNM jointly organized a “mass contact” mobilization drive in Patuakhali district from May 9 to May 11.168 The organizations also circulated leaflets urging the government to declare the Ahmadiyyas “non-Muslim” and ban their activities.169 On May 12, police in the Patuakhali district were able to block the eviction plans of the IKNM.170 Police nonetheless seized copies of the Qur’an and books of Hadith from the Ahmadiyya mosque in Patuakhali, and the local commissioner posted a signboard asking people not to mistake the structure for a mosque.171

On August 27, 2004, the Dhaka police stopped an attempt by supporters of the K.N. to take over the Ahmadiyya headquarters in Bakshibazar, Dhaka.172

On October 29, 2004, a mob of at least three hundred members of the K.N. launched an attack on an Ahmadi mosque in Brahmanbaria, seventy-five kilometers northeast of Dhaka. The axe-wielding mob pelted Ahmadi worshippers with stones as they congregated to offer Friday prayers. Subsequently, the mob broke the doors of the mosque down with axes and attacked the worshippers with the same weapons. At least forty-five minutes elapsed before the police intervened to restore order. Eleven members of the Ahmadiyya sect were seriously injured in the attack.173

The Bogra incident

Over time, the police appear to have become increasingly tolerant of the threatening and inciting behavior of K.N. activists. A compelling example was in evidence on March 11, 2005, when anti-Ahmadiyya protestors, backed by police, hung a signboard reading, “A place of worship of the Qadianis in Bogra Town; no Muslim should be deceived into considering it a mosque,” on an Ahmadiyya mosque at Seuzgari in the northern district of Bogra.

The March 11 incident began when around ten thousand supporters of the K.N. Movement gathered in the town after Friday prayers and held a meeting followed by a rally that continued until 4:00 p.m. The protestors, armed with rods, marched towards the Ahmadiyya mosque. When the police intercepted the procession at Seuzgari, the K.N. leaders demanded that the police search the mosque and hand over Ahmadiyya publications to them. They also asked the police to replace the existing signboard, reading “Ahmadiyya mosque,” with the one brought by them. The police acquiesced and took five Nabuwat leaders to the mosque. Ignoring protests by members of the Ahmadiyya community, led by their chief missionary, Abdul Awwal Khan Chowdhury, Additional Superintendent of Police Zakir Hossain ordered his men to replace the Ahmadiyya signboard with the Nabuwat one at 6:00 p.m. that evening.174 Prime Minister Khaleda Zia has failed to condemn these events. One reason may be that members of her coalition partner, the IOJ, openly participated in the demonstration.

In contrast, the Prime Minister has been quick to warn foreign countries and donor agencies not to interfere in the country's internal affairs. Three days after the Bogra incident, in a speech to parliament on March 14, 2005, she said she would not entertain any dictates from donors and the international community and would run the country according to the laws of the land. “I would like to remind foreigners that Bangladesh has its own constitution and laws.”175 As the Bogra case and others described in this report show, however, those laws are not being applied to protect the rights of all Bangladeshi citizens.

A fact-finding committee led by Justice (retired) K.M. Sobhan was in Bogra on the day of the incident (in response to threats being openly made by Islamist leaders, the committee had arrived in Bogra the previous day). At a press conference following the incident, Justice Sobhan condemned the police behavior and termed it a violation of the country’s constitution.176

Satkhira attack

One of the worst attacks on Ahmadis took place on April 17, 2005, when a mob led by the K.N. attacked members of the Ahmadiyya community, injuring at least twenty-five people. The attack took place in Joytidrianagar, a remote village in the southwestern Satkhira district.177

Witnesses reported that thousands of K.N. members brandishing sticks, machetes, and darts started marching towards the Sundarban Bazar. The K.N. activists sought to place a signboard on the Ahmadi mosque in the area which stated: “This is a place of worship for Kadianis, no Muslim should mistake it for a mosque.”

As the K.N. activists reached the Ahmadiyya mosque at Sundarban Bazar, Abdul Awwal Khan Chowdury tried to prevent the incident from taking place. Incensed at the resistance, the K.N. followers started throwing stones at them and injured dozens of people, some seriously. The police, instead of preventing the incident from occurring, sought to contain the situation by taking possession of the sign-board and hanging it themselves on the Ahmadi mosque. Awwal Chowdury told Human Rights Watch:

Thousands of K.N. members armed with sticks and machetes started marching towards the Sundarban Bazar at about 1:00 p.m. K.N. Deputy Leader Mufti Nur Hossain Nurani and central leader Mohammed Muntasir Ahmed led the procession. As it reached near the Ahmadiyya mosque at Sundarban Bazar in Jotindryanagar, sixty-five kilometers off the Satkhira district headquarters, we tried to keep the bigots from hanging the signboard by trying to prevent them moving forward. The K.N. followers started throwing stones at us. 178

At one stage, the police stationed in the area fired blanks in the air. Ahmadiyya community members moved backwards and the K.N. members stepped forward to hang the signboard. At the request of police, the K.N. leaders handed the signboard to them, which the police then hung in the presence of the Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Sohrab Hossain, superintendent of police in Satkhira, Abdur Rahim, and Magistrate Mina Masuduzzaman.

Immediately afterwards, K.N. activists went on a rampage, looting nearby Ahmadi homes and injuring many Ahmadis in the process, including women, who were beaten with sticks and sustained serious injuries. During the attack and for three days afterwards, alleged K.N. activists looted at least ten Ahmadi houses at Sundarban Bazar in the village.

About twenty K.N. activists armed with sticks and bricks attacked the house of Abdul Majeed Sardar, leader of the Sundarban Ahmadiyya Jamaat, who has a house in the 1.3 acre complex containing the mosque. The complex is surrounded by Ahmadi houses and an Ahmadi-founded school.

Six women from the house and surrounding areas sustained head injuries and broken bones in the attack. They include Salina Islam, twenty-five, a mother of two; Rahima Begum, thirty-six; Firdausi Begum, thirty-two; Farida Begum, thirty two; and Mrs. Naseer Sardar, fifty-five. The injured were moved, under police guard, to Shyamnagar health center for treatment and two were sent to Dhaka for further treatment in light of the seriousness of the head injuries sustained. The following day, members of the Ahmadiyya community lodged a case with the police at Shaymnagar police station. The police have not taken any action to date. Rahima Begum informed Human Rights Watch:

I was in the house when five men wielding sticks forcibly entered and started destroying things. When I raised a hue and cry and tried to resist, they stated beating me with sticks. I fell to the ground and there was blood gushing out of my head, which seemed to have been split open. They were busy looting and also attacking other women who intervened.179

Cash, ornaments and other valuables were looted from the houses of G.M. Sabbir, G.M. Mobarak Ahmed, S.M. Wahid, Abdul Mazid Sardar, S.M. Matiar Rahman, G.M. Abu Daud, G.M. Rois Ahmed and others.180



[66] International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), G.A. res. 2200A (XXI), 21 U.N. GAOR Supp. (No. 16) p. 52, U.N. Doc. A/6316 (1966), enforced March 23, 1976. Articles 18 & 19. Bangladesh became a party to the ICCPR in 2000.

[67] Ibid, article 26.

[68] Ibid, article 27.

[69] Human Rights Watch interview with Mohammad Ataur Rehman, Dhaka, August 25, 2004.

[70] Human Rights Watch interview with Abul Bashr, Dhaka, August 25, 2004.

[71] “Kadiani Imam Killed Under the Leadership of Jama’ati Imam,” Bhorer Kagoi, November 17, 2003.

[72] HLS Advocates for Human Rights/ Harvard Human Rights Program interview with Abdul Awwal Khan Chowdury, Central Missionary, Amadiyya Muslim Jama’at, Dhaka, March 26, 2004.

[73] Human Rights Watch interview with Abdul Qadir, Dhaka, August 26, 2004.

[74] HLS Advocates for Human Rights/Harvard Human Rights Program interview with Justice K.M. Subhan, Retired Supreme Court Justice, Dhaka, March 28, 2004.

[75] HLS Advocates for Human Rights/Harvard Human Rights Program interview with Justice K.M. Subhan, Retired Supreme Court Justice, Dhaka, March 28, 2004..

[76] “Kadiani Imam Killed Under the Leadership of Jama’ati Imam,” Bhorer Kagoi.

[77] Human Rights Watch interview with Shabbir Ali, Dhaka, August 25, 2004.

[78] “Ten Kadiani Families Under House Arrest For a Week in Bheramera,” Andoloner Bazar, October 28, 2003.

[79] “No Settlement Between Qadiyanis and Sunnis in Bheramera,” The Banglabazar Patrika, October 30, 2003.

[80] Ibid.

[81] Human Rights Watch interview with Shabbir Ali, Dhaka, August 25, 2004.

[82] Human Rights Watch interview with Mohammad Mominul Islam alias Raqeeb, Dhaka, August 24, 2004.

[83] Human Rights Watch interview with Mohammad Mominul Islam alias Raqeeb, Dhaka, August 24, 2004.

[84] Human Rights Watch interview with Mohammad Mominul Islam alias Raqeeb, Dhaka, August 24, 2004.

[85] “No Settlement Between Qadiyanis and Sunnis in Bheramera,” The Banglabazar Patrika; “Ten Kadiani Families Under House Arrest For a Week in Bheramera,” Andoloner Bazar.

[86] HLS Advocates for Human Rights/ Harvard Human Rights Program interview with Abdul Awwal Khan Chowdury, Central Missionary, Amadiyya Muslim Jama’at, Dhaka, March 26, 2004.

[87] Human Rights Watch telephone interview with non-Ahmadi school-goer. Dhaka, August 25, 2004.

[88] Human Rights Watch interview with Shabbir Ali, Dhaka, August 25, 2004.

[89] Human Rights Watch interview with Shireen, Dhaka, August 26, 2004.

[90] HLS Advocates for Human Rights/Harvard Human Rights Program interview with Abdul Awwal Khan Chowdury, Central Missionary, Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at, Dhaka, March 26, 2004.

[91] Human Rights Watch interview with Bilquis Akhtar, Dhaka, August 26, 2004.

[92] “Ten Kadiani Families Under House Arrest For a Week in Bheramera,” Andoloner Bazar.

[93] HLS Advocates for Human Rights/ Harvard Human Rights Program interview with Abdul Awwal Khan Chowdury, Central Missionary, Amadiyya Muslim Jama’at, Dhaka, March 26, 2004; “No Settlement Between Qadiyanis and Sunnis in Bheramera,” The Banglabazar Patrika.

[94] Human Rights Watch interview with Abdul Awwal Khan Chowdury, Central Missionary, Amadiyya Muslim Jama’at, Dhaka, August. 26, 2004.

[95] Human Rights Watch interview with Rafiq Ahmad, Amadiyya Muslim Jama’at, Dhaka, April 2, 2004. His account is confirmed by one local newspaper. “Crowd Tries to Attack Ahmadiyya Mosque in City,” The Daily Star, November 21, 2003.

[96] “Crowd Tries to Attack Ahmadiyya Mosque in City,” The Daily Star.

[97] HLS Advocates for Human Rights/ Harvard Human Rights Program interview with Rafiq Ahmad, Amadiyya Muslim Jama’at, Dhaka, April 2, 2004.

[98] Ibid.

[99] Ibid.

[100] “Bid to Capture Ahmadiyya Mosque Foiled in Patuakhali,” New Age, May 12, 2004; “Hundreds Clash with Cops over Ahmadiyya Mosque Row,” New Age, November 22, 2003; “Tejgaon Industrial Area Turns into Battlefield,” The Bangladesh Observer, November 22, 2003; “Clash Centering Qadiani Mosque: 50 Injured,” The Independent, November 22, 2003; “Nakhalpara Turns into a Battlefield,” The News Today, November 22, 2003; “Controversy over Kadianis; 150 Hurt as Police, Muslims Clash,” The New Nation, November 22, 2003; “50 Injured in Clash with Kadianis,” The Financial Express, November 22, 2003.

[101] “Bid to Capture Ahmadiyya Mosque Foiled in Patuakhali,” New Age.

[102] “Bid to Capture Ahmadiyya Mosque Foiled in Patuakhali,” New Age; “Hundreds Clash with Cops over Ahmadiyya Mosque Row,” New Age; “Tejgaon Industrial Area Turns into Battlefield,” The Bangladesh Observer; “Clash Centering Qadiani Mosque: 50 Injured,” The Independent; “Nakhalpara Turns into a Battlefield,” The News Today; “Controversy over Kadianis; 150 Hurt as Police, Muslims Clash,” The New Nation; “50 Injured in Clash with Kadianis,” The Financial Express.

[103] Ibid.

[104] “Bid to Capture Ahmadiyya Mosque Foiled in Patuakhali,” New Age; “Hundreds Clash with Cops over Ahmadiyya Mosque Row,” New Age.

[105] “Bid to Capture Ahmadiyya Mosque Foiled in Patuakhali,” New Age; “50 Injured in Clash with Kadianis,” The Financial Express.

[106] “Bid to Capture Ahmadiyya Mosque Foiled in Patuakhali,” New Age; “Hundreds Clash with Cops over Ahmadiyya Mosque Row,” New Age; “Tejgaon Industrial Area Turns into Battlefield,” The Bangladesh Observer; “Clash Centering Qadiani Mosque: 50 Injured,” The Independent; “Nakhalpara Turns into a Battlefield,” The News Today; “Controversy over Kadianis; 150 Hurt as Police, Muslims Clash,” The New Nation.

[107] “IGP Pledges Action against Attackers,” The Daily Star, November 23, 2003.

[108] “No Move to Arrest Attackers, Instigators,” The Daily Star, November 23, 2003.

[109] “IGP Pledges Action against Attackers,” The Daily Star.

[110] “Yet Another Warning in Sarishabari,” The Daily Star, December 7, 2003.

[111] “Anti-Ahmadia Group Gives One-Week Deadline to Government,” The Daily Star, December 6, 2003; “Qadiani-Rally Muslims’ Ultimatum to Remove Ahmadiyya Mosque,” The Independent

[112] “Anti-Ahmadia Group Gives One-Week Deadline to Government,” The Daily Star.

[113] Ibid.

[114] Ibid.

[115] “Anti-Ahmadiyyas’ Ultimatum to Government,” The Daily Star, December 20, 2003.

[116] Ibid.

[117] Ibid.

[118] “Bigots demand Bill Declaring Ahmadiyyas non-Muslims,” The Daily Star, December 27, 2003.

[119] Ibid.

[120] “Anti-Ahmadiyya Group Issues Fresh Threat,” The Daily Star, January 3, 2004.

[121] “Anti-Ahmadiyya Group Issues Fresh Threat,” The Daily Star, January 3, 2004.

[122]International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), G.A. res. 2200A (XXI), 21 U.N. GAOR Supp. (No. 16) p. 52, U.N. Doc. A/6316 (1966), enforced March 23, 1976. Articles 18 & 19.

[123] Sharier Khan, “New Wave of Intolerance: Bangladesh Cracks Down on Muslim Sect,” OneWorld South Asia, January 2004 [online], http://www.thepersecution.org/world/bangladesh/2004/own040109sa.html (retrieved May 25, 2005).

[124] “Ahmadiyya Books Banned,” Daily Star, January 9, 2004.

[125] Khan, “New Wave of Intolerance: Bangladesh Cracks Down on Muslim Sect,” OneWorld South Asia.

[126] Human Rights Watch interview with Abdul Awwal Khan Chowdury, Central Missionary, Amadiyya Muslim Jama’at, Dhaka, August, 26, 2004.

[127] HLS Advocates for Human Rights/ Harvard Human Rights Program interview with Mosharef Hossain Shahjahan, State Minister, Ministry of Religious Affairs, Dhaka, March 25, 2004.

[128] Ibid.

[129] Ibid.

[130] HLS Advocates for Human Rights/ Harvard Human Rights Program interview with Mahfuz Anam, Editor in Chief, The Daily Star, Dhaka, March 27, 2004.

[131] HLS Advocates for Human Rights/ Harvard Human Rights Program interview with Mosharef Hossain Shahjahan, State Minister, Ministry of Religious Affairs, Dhaka, March 25, 2004.

[132] HLS Advocates for Human Rights/ Harvard Human Rights Program interview with Mosharef Hossain Shahjahan, State Minister, Ministry of Religious Affairs, Dhaka, March 25, 2004.

[133] HLS Advocates for Human Rights/ Harvard Human Rights Program interview with Mahfuz Anam, Editor in Chief, The Daily Star, Dhaka, March 27, 2004.

[134] “Deputy Minister of Religious Affairs Told BBC That Publication Has Been Banned to Protect the Ahmadis,” Prothom Alo, January 10, 2004 [Human Rights Watch translation].

[135] “Fiddling While Bangladesh Burns,” The Daily Star, April 27, 2004.

[136]HLS Advocates for Human Rights/ Harvard Human Rights Program interview with Abdul Awwal Khan Chowdury, Dhaka, March 26, 2004.

[137] HLS Advocates for Human Rights/ Harvard Human Rights Program interview with Abdul Awwal Khan Chowdury, Dhaka, March 26, 2004.

[138] Ibid.

[139] “Police Allow Zealots to Storm Ahmadiyya Mosque,” The Daily Star, April 17, 2004.

[140] “Protest Against Ahmadiyyas in City,” The New Age, April 17, 2004.

[141] International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), G.A. res. 2200A (XXI), 21 U.N. GAOR Supp. (No. 16) p. 52, U.N. Doc. A/6316 (1966), enforced March 23, 1976. Article 2.

[142] Manfred Nowak, U.N. Covenant on Civil and Political Rights: CCPR Commentary (Arlington: Engel, 1993), p. 65.

[143] “Minister Snubs Demand for Declaring Ahmadiyyas non-Muslim,” The Daily Star, December 9, 2003.

[144] Ibid.

[145] “Ahmadiyya books banned,” The Daily Star, January 9, 2004.

[146] Rally in Dhaka, April 2, 2004.

[147] “Islamist Group’s New Deadline for Declaring Ahmadiyyas non-Muslim,” The Daily Star, April 7, 2004.

[148] Ibid.

[149] The events described in this section come from HLS Advocates for Human Rights/ Harvard Human Rights Program interviews conducted on March 29 and 30, 2004 with eight Ahmadi villagers, two members of the press, and three members of the police.

[150] Bangladeshi administration is broken down into upalizas (or thanas) which are the equivalent of police stations. In every thana, or upaliza, there is an O.C., who is a police commissioner, and a UNO, or union nirbahi officer, who is the administrative officer. The three villages affected in this incident are Kukua, Khakdan, and Krishnanagar, which all fall under the Aamtoli thana. The Deputy Commissioner is the head of both the O.C. and the UNO.

[151] Harvard Human Rights Program/HLS Advocates for Human Rights interview with Ali Ahmed Master, Amadiyya Muslim Jama’at, Krishnanagar, March 30, 2004.

[152] HLS Advocates for Human Rights/ Harvard Human Rights Program interview with Joynal Abedin, March 30, 2004.

[153] HLS Advocates for Human Rights/ Harvard Human Rights Program interview with Lutfor Rahman, March 30, 2004

[154] HLS Advocates for Human Rights/ Harvard Human Rights Program interview with Kamal Ahmed, Amadiyya Muslim Jama’at, Khakdan, March 29, 2004.

[155] Ibid.

[156] HLS Advocates for Human Rights/ Harvard Human Rights Program interview with Ali Ahmed Master, Amadiyya Muslim Jama’at, Krishnanagar, March 29, 2004.

[157] HLS Advocates for Human Rights/ Harvard Human Rights Program interview with Kamal Ahmed, Amadiyya Muslim Jama’at, Khakdan, March 29, 2004.

[158] Ibid.

[159] HLS Advocates for Human Rights/ Harvard Human Rights Program interview with Ali Ahmed Master, Amadiyya Muslim Jama’at, Krishnanagar, March 29, 2004.

[160] HLS Advocates for Human Rights/ Harvard Human Rights Program interview with Ali Ahmed Master, Amadiyya Muslim Jama’at, Krishnanagar, March 30, 2004.

[161] HLS Advocates for Human Rights/ Harvard Human Rights Program interview with Rokeya Begum, Amadiyya Muslim Jama’at, Dhaka, March 31, 2004.

[162] HLS Advocates for Human Rights/ Harvard Human Rights Program interview with Nuzmul Kabir, Amadiyya Muslim Jama’at, Dhaka, March 31, 2004.

[163] HLS Advocates for Human Rights/ Harvard Human Rights Program interview with Arman Ali and Anhar Parveen Begum, Amadiyya Muslim Jama’at, Dhaka, March 31, 2004.

[164] Ibid.

[165] Ibid.

[166] “Panic Grips Ahmadiyyas In Barisal, Patuakhali,” The Daily Star, May 11, 2004; “Ahmadiyyas Urge Safety, Security,” New Age, May 10, 2004.

[167] Ibid.

[168] “Panic Grips Ahmadiyyas In Barisal, Patuakhali,” The Daily Star; “Ahmadiyyas Urge Safety, Security,” New Age.

[169] Ibid.

[170] “Anti-Ahmadiyya Plan Foiled,” The Daily Star, May 13, 2004; “Bid to Capture Ahmadiyya Mosque Foiled in Patuakhali,” New Age, May 12, 2004.

[171] “Anti-Ahmadiyya Agitation: Minister Admits Government Failute, Victims Sniff Jamaat Link,” Matamat, May 30, 2004 [online], http://www.matamat.com/fullstory.php?gd=17&cd=2004-05-30 (Retrieved May 25, 2005).

[172] “Ahmadiyya Complex capture foiled,” The Daily Star, August 28, 2004.

[173] Human Rights Watch telephone interview  with Abdul Awwal Chaudry, November 5, 2004.

[174] Human Rights Watch telephone interview with Abdul Awwal Chowdhury, March 24, 2004.

[175]  Waliur Rehman, “Bangladesh in Foreigners Warning,” BBC News Online, March 15, 2005 [online], http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4351765.stm (retrieved May 25, 2005).

[176] “Cops help Bogra bigots pull down mosque signboard,” The Daily Star, March 12, 2005 [online], http://www.thedailystar.net/2005/03/12/d5031201033.htm

[177] “50 hurt as bigots attack Ahmadiyyas in Satkhira,” The Daily Star, April 18, 2005 [online],

http://www.thedailystar.net/2005/04/18/d5041801022.htm (retrieved May 25, 2005).

[178] Human Rights Watch telephone interview with Abdul Awwal Chowdhury, May 26, 2005.

[179] Human Rights Watch interview with Rahima Begum through Awwal Chowdury, May 28, 2005

[180] “50 hurt as bigots attack Ahmadiyyas in Satkhira,” The Daily Star, April 18, 2005.


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