Staff Correspondent | Published: 19:02, Mar 21,2023
The Ahmadiyyas on Tuesday urged the government to take necessary steps to hold their annual congregation peacefully as the past one came under attack on March 3, killing at least two people in Panchagarh.
‘We have been peacefully holding our jalsa for decades and want to continue it. The authorities should take all necessary measures to ensure our security,’ Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat spokesperson Ahmad Tabsir Chowdhury said on Tuesday at a press conference in Bangladesh capital Dhaka.
Tabshir said that 2023 was a crucial year because national election would be held in the first week of 2024, and some quarters were trying to destabilise the country for political benefits.
‘As the election is near, some quarters were trying to be benefitted politically by victimising the Ahmadiyyas, and the attack in Panchagarh was such an attempt,’ Tabshir said.
He presented video footage taken during the attacks on the Ahmadiyya jalsa on March 3, where police members were seen sitting idle when attackers beat a person.
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‘Police forces at our jalsa remained inactive for more than three hours when the attackers attacked us. They did nothing to prevent the attacks,’ Tabshir claimed.
He added that many victims were still living in the Ahmadiyya complex in Panchagarh as their houses were destroyed.
On March 3, two people were killed, and dozens of others, including police personnel, were injured as groups of Islamists torched and vandalised scores of Ahmadiyya houses and clashed with law enforcers in the district town and adjacent areas over organising a jalsa, an annual congregation, of the Ahmadiyyas.
The Ahmadiyyas alleged that more than 186 houses were torched and several hundred others looted and vandalised during the attacks.
Categories: Ahmadis, Ahmadiyyat: True Islam, Asia, Bangla, Bangladesh