Two killed in clashes with police during protest against Ahmadiyya congregation
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Two persons were killed and more than two dozen injured, including police personnel, in clashes between police and protesters demanding stoppage of an Ahmadiyya sect congregation in Panchagarh district in northern Bangladesh on Friday. Teams of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) were deployed in the area to help police in controlling the arson, looting and attacks against the Ahmadiyyas.
The trouble started after the Juma prayers when people from several mosques started marching towards the Ahmadiyya village where the congregation was being held on Friday. The police stopped them near the Kartoya bridge in the town but they came under attack by the protesters.
Subsequently, the mob attacked Ahmadiyya people holding a congregation at Ahmednagar, on the outskirts of the city.
The police told the media that the clashes spread beyond Panchagarh town and several police personnel were injured. The district administration postponed the congregation scheduled from Friday, 3 March till Sunday 5 March, following the clashes.
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat Bangladesh official told New Age that about 100 houses in Panchagarh were put on fire and vandalised by the religious bigots. On Thursday also, some houses belonging to Ahmadiyyas were torched and vandalised by people who did not want them to hold the Salana Jalsa from Friday.
Earlier, Islami Andolan Bangladesh, one of the hardline religious organisations of Bangladesh, had petitioned the local administration on Thursday not to allow the Ahmadiyya annual congregation- Salana Jalsa in Ahmednagar. They had also organised a roadblock in Panchagarh to protest against the Ahmadiyya congregation, said the local media.
