Hard-line Muslims demand rally against Ahmadis

DHAKA: Hundreds of hard-line Muslims rallied in Bangladesh’s capital on Sunday to demand the government declare a minority Islamic sect non-Muslim, police said.

About 300 activists from the Islamic International Khatme Nubuwat Movement marched through Dhaka’s streets, chanting slogans against the Ahmadi Islamic sect, said police official Ali Ahmed Masud. Police intercepted the march, but no violence was reported, Masud said.

He said more than 100 police were guarding an Ahmadi mosque that the hard-liners had said they planned to seize. “The situation is under control,” Masud said.

The International Khatme Nubuwat Movement has demanded that the government introduce a bill in parliament to declare the Ahmadis non-Muslims.

The group also wants a ban on the Ahmadis’ writings and missionary activities.

Bangladesh has about 100,000 Ahmadis, who differ from other Muslims over whether Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), was the religion’s final prophet. The group on Friday announced plans to put up signs in front of the 120 Ahmadi mosques across Bangladesh, declaring them places “places of worship,” not mosques.

The International Khatme Nubuwat Movement had earlier warned the government there would be “bloodshed,” if necessary, to protect Islam from heretics.

Ahmadi spokesman SM Tauhidul Islam said the group fears violent attacks by the hard-liners.

“We want protection,” he said on Saturday. He said the group has alerted Ahmadis across Bangladesh, a Sunni Muslim-majority nation of 144 million people.

Dhaka Metropolitan Police Commissioner SM Mizanur Rahman said they would provide the minority with adequate protection. The Ahmadi sect was founded in 1889 by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, an Indian religious leader who claimed to be a prophet seeking Islam’s renewal.

New York-based Human Rights Watch criticised Bangladesh’s government last year for failing to prosecute those behind an alleged campaign of violence, harassment and intimidation against Ahmadis.

Read Another Article

LDS Church to build temple in Honduras
Prosecutors: Andrea Yates Knew Drownings Wrong

Related News Articles Topic(s): Ahmadiyya Subscribe to Religion News Blog updates Subscribe to Religion News Blog [What is this?] Get Religion News Blog's headline by Email [What is this?] Follow Religion News Blog at Twitter Find Related Information Use our custom search engines to find additional research resources on religions and cults: ApologeticsSearch.com: Search for apologetics articles, books, videos, and other research resources across 135 Christian apologetics websites and blogs. CounterCultSearch.com: Search for information about (religious) cults, cult-like organizations, and cults experts -- as well as paranormal-, New Age, and pseudoscientific claims -- across 260+ websites, blogs and forums dedicated to cult research, spiritual abuse, ex-cult counseling & support. Find Related Religion & Spirituality Books at Amazon.com Ahmadiyya Possibly related... or Most Popular Religion News Articles Kent Hovind: Evangelist arrested on federal charges Beast’s real mark devalued to ’616′ Muslim Woman Gives Sex Advice on Arab TV Michael Jackson Confirms Conversion to Islam Kent Hovind, ‘Dr. Dino,’ guilty on all counts The fall and rise of Carlton Pearson Search False prophet Harold Camping sets another date for rapture: May 21, 2011 Watch the film Theo van Gogh was murdered for Kent Hovind — Dr. Dino — sentenced to 10 years in prison

Search Religion News Blog