AHMADIYAS ALLEGE JI BEHIND LATEST VIOLENCE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DHAKA 001922

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/25/2015
TAGS: PHUM KISL PGOV BG BG
SUBJECT: AHMADIYAS ALLEGE JI BEHIND LATEST VIOLENCE

REF: DHAKA 01853

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


1. (C) Summary. After the recent anti-Ahmadiya attacks,
Ambassador paid a well-publicized visit to the Ahmadiya
central mosque to underscore USG support for the security
and rights of Ahmadiyas. Ahmadiya leaders now say that
Jamaat Islami was behind the attacks, which might explain
why the BDG appears to have backtracked on its commitment
to protect Ahmadiyas from
extremists. End Summary.


2. (C) Following the recent upsurge of violence against
Ahmadiyas in several parts of Bangladesh (reftel),
Ambassador, accompanied by IO, met with Ahmadiya
leaders on April 20 at their Dhaka headquarters to
demonstrate USG support and concern. The BDG, the
Ahmadiyas said, had stepped up their efforts in late
2004 to protect them, but is now backtracking in a renewed
bid to pander to extremist sentiment and influence. The
BDG effectively sanctioned the recent attacks when it
allegedly instructed police and local officials to
rescind their ban on demonstrations and allow them to go
forward. The Ahmadiyas called for equal protection under
the law and full freedom of religion. The BDG, they added,
should remove the provocative signboards posted at their
mosques by police in Khulna and Bogra, and bring to justice
those responsible for the violence.


3. (C) Ambassador reiterated the USG's strong support for
freedom of religion, minority rights, and due process, and
undertook to convey the Ahmadiyas'
grievances to Washington.


4. (SBU) On April 22, local officials in Satkhira denied
to reporters that there had been any attacks on Ahmadiyas
in their areas. On the same day, leaders of the Khatme
Nabuwat Movement, which spearheads the anti-Ahmadiya
campaign, claimed that the Ahmadiyas were the perpetrators,
not the victims, of the violence.


5. (C) On April 25, we asked Mobashsher Ali, deputy leader
of Ahmadiya Jamaat, about his press statement the day
before alleging that Jamaat Islami (JI),a key member of
the ruling coalition, was behind the new attacks. Asked
for details, he said the BNP is trying to solidify its
Islamist political support for the general election
expected in early 2007. He complained that the Awami
League, which had sometimes publicly stood by the
Ahmadiyas, is now maintaining a conspicuous silence.
(Note: At an April 25 lunch, AL leader Kazi Zafarullah
told us the AL stands squarely with the Ahmadiyas but that
he would raise the issue of a statement with Sheikh
Hasina.) The Khatme Nabuwat, Ali said, could never muster
10,000 demonstrators without JI support.


6. (C) Abdul Awwal Khan Chowdhury, an Ahmadiya missionary
referred to us by Ali, told us that he had just spent
eight days in Satkhira, and was certain that the violence
could not have occurred without JI's "green signal." The
local MP, Gazi Nazrul Islam, is from JI and was in town
on the day of the demonstration to meet with shrimp
factory workers. A shrimp union unit chief, and JI
activist, was allegedly one of the demonstration
organizers. MP Islam could have stopped the demonstration,
Chowdhury said, but took no action to do so. He also
claimed that a local official offered the Ahmadiyas
protection in return for removing the Ahmadiya sign from
the mosque after he he had met with JI and BNP leaders.


7. (SBU) On April 25, JI publicly denied any involvement
with the Ahmadiya violence.


8. (C) Comment: Local media continue to give the issue
broad coverage, with the English-language press being
generally critical of the attacks and the BDG's failure
to stop them. Denials of involvement may reflect some
sensitivity to this criticism and the Ambassador's public
show of support for the Ahmadiyas. The Ahmadiyas'
evidence of JI complicity in the violence seems shaky but
is worrisome since, if true, it would represent an
escalation in the anti-Ahmadiya campaign and could
explain the apparent erosion of the BDG's commitment to
protect Ahmadiyas from extremists. JI leaders make
little effort to hide their disdain for Ahmadiyas as
"false" Muslims, but they have always insisted that
they had nothing to do with the violence or the
campaign to declare Ahmadiyas non-Muslims. The openly
extremist IOJ, the other Islamist coalition partner
which recently split into a third faction, has been
the public champion of that effort.
CHAMMAS