50 INJURED IN ANTI-AHMADIYA ATTACKS

C O N F I D E N T I A L DHAKA 001802

SIPDIS

INFO AMEMBASSY COLOMBO
AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD
AMEMBASSY KATHMANDU
AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI
AMCONSUL CALCUTTA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/18/2010
TAGS: PHUM PGOV BG
SUBJECT: 50 INJURED IN ANTI-AHMADIYA ATTACKS


Classified By: P/E Counselor D.C. McCullough, reasons para 1.4 b, d.


1. (SBU) On April 17, around 15,000 activists of the
International Khatme Nabuat Movement (INKMB),a militant
group dedicated to declaring Ahmadiyas non-Muslim, marched on
an Ahmadiya mosque in Satkhira, in south-western Bangladesh,
according to local media and Ahmadiya leaders. The marchers,
brandishing sticks, machetes, and darts, tried to replace the
mosque's sign with one saying it was "A place of worship for
the Ahmadiya community, no Muslim should mistake it for a
mosque."


2. (SBU) When Ahmadiyas tried to keep them at bay, marchers
started throwing stones. Police, who were out in force,
intervened at that point. In the presence of the local
Police Deputy Inspector General and the local magistrate, the
crowd handed over its sign to the police who, according to
photos, hung the new sign themselves. The demonstrators then
began looting Ahmadiya homes. Ahmadiyas charge police did
nothing to stop the attacks.


3. (SBU) Later that night, Ahmadiya Jamaat officials told us,
there were attacks on Ahmadiya homes in four neighboring
Ahmadiya villages, and on April 18 a crowd armed with sticks
advanced towards the villages but later withdrew.
Approximately 20 policemen are now guarding the Ahmadiya area
in Satkhira. Ahmadiya leaders have yet to decide whether to
file a case, as requested by the police, against the
attackers, in part because they believe the police themselves
should take that step.


4. (SBU) Over 50 persons were injured in the various attacks;
two, both women, are hospitalized.


5. (C) Comment: This appears to be the most violent assault
on Ahmadiyas since October 29, when 11 Ahmadiyas were injured
as extremists tried to capture an Ahmadiya mosque in
Brahmanbaria district, 60 miles northeast of Dhaka. Police,
at the direction of the BDG, became more active after
Brahmanbaria in protecting Ahmadiyas, but now seem to have
reverted to the old pattern of complicit passivity. We will
raise our concerns later this week with senior BDG officials,
who will likely again argue that police action effectively
defused an explosive situation and that the BDG's priority
must be respecting public order and "sensitivities" of the
majority.
THOMAS