Call to uphold Ahmadiyas’ rights
Staff Correspondent - NewAge Daily

The government should uphold the basic rights of the Ahmadiyas to exercise religious functions and should withdraw the ban on their publications, the community leaders said at a congregation on Friday.

The three-day congregation, National Salana Jalsa, began on Friday in the central office of the Ahmadiya Muslim Jamaat at Bakshibazar in Dhaka.

Firoz Alam, representative of the community’s grand imam, Mirza Masrur Ahmad, opened the function.
The inaugural session was also addressed by Justice KM Sobhan, the Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal president, Hasanul Haq Inu, Justice Mizanul Haq Nasim, the New Age editor, Enayetullah Khan, columnist Shahriyar Kabir, lawyer Sara Hossain, Tarique Ali of the Sammilita Samajik Andolan, the organisation’s Bangladesh chapter nayeb-e-amir, Mir Mobassher Ali, Maulana Abdul Awwal Khan Chowdhury and Ahmad Tabshir Chowdhury.

Firoz urged the Ahmadiyas to stand united to face the hurdles in practising their religion.

Hasanul Haq Inu urged all to unite to effectively face the armed Islamist bigots and criminals were dominating politics.

‘The government has turned a bind eye in political interests although the criminals and the armed Islamist bigots are dominating politics,’ he said. ‘We are to face them [criminals and bigots].’

Enayetullah blamed the government for showing weaknesses in facing the bigots, who attempted to intrude into Ahmadiya mosques. He also blamed the leading political parties, engaged in a struggle for power, for providing lip-service only to the Ahmadiyas. He demanded withdrawal of the ban on Ahmadiya publications and returning of the control over the Ahmadiya mosques forcefully dispossessed by the bigots.

KM Sobhan put out a call for all to protest against the armed communal bigots.

‘We are to face the people who want to turn Bangladesh into a religion-state, on all fronts,’ said Shahriyar. ‘They will have to be fought politically, socially, culturally and theologically.’

It is the constitutional rights of the Ahmadiyas to practise religion, but the government curtailed their rights by imposing the ban, said Sara Hossain, referring to the January 8, 2004 ban on Ahmadiya publications in the face of pressure from the Islamist radicals.

The Ahmadiyas are passing their days in disarray as the Islamist bigots continue threatening them across the country and the government has kept silent about it, the speakers said.

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Dr. Syed Anwar Hussain, Vice Chancellor of Darul Ihsan University and former Chairman of History Department of Dhaka University who is also the fromer Director General of Bangla Academy spoke on the occassion, while Dr. Shawkat Ara Hussain, Professor of Political Science of Dhaka Univerity also joined the inaugural session later.