UPDATE ON AHMADIYAS

C O N F I D E N T I A L DHAKA 003001

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/21/2016
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM
SUBJECT: UPDATE ON AHMADIYAS


Classified By: D.C. McCullough, reason para 1.4 d.


1. (U) The Ahmadiya community planned an event known as a
Jalsa Salana to be held in Kandipara, Brahmanbaria on May 20.
In connection with this event, the press claimed the local
Ahmadiyas had renamed the town Ahmadiya Para. Both the
gathering of Ahmadiyas and the apparent renaming of their
town angered the members of the local madrassa. The madrassa
announced a three-day protest, disguised as a religious
gathering, to be held 60 feet from the site of the Ahmadiya
gathering. Local authorities chose to avoid the potential
for violence by invoking Section 144 of the Criminal
Procedure Code. Among other provisions, this section bans
all outdoor gatherings larger than four people. Press
reports large numbers of police officers were dispatched to
Brahmanbaria, and despite the high tensions, no violence has
occurred.


2. (C) DCM spoke with MFA AMERICA Director General Shahidul
Islam to express U.S. concern over deteriorating relations
between Ahmadiyas and other residents. DCM thanked the BDG
for its consistent efforts since April 2005 to protect the
Ahmadiyas, but said it was disappointing that Ahmadiyas could
not have their gathering in Brahmanbaria. A successful event
would have indicated great improvement in community relations
after the anti-Ahmadiya violence of April 2005 and the
January 2006 protests over the burial site of an Ahmadiya
woman. DG Islam responded that Section 144 was invoked
primarily to stop the madrassa protest, not the Ahmadiya
gathering. However, once the law is invoked, it applies to
all assemblies. He assured DCM that the BDG is still
committed to protecting the rights of minorities.


3. (C) On May 22, PolOffs spoke with the National Emir and
other Ahmadiya leaders in Dhaka. They claim they had no
intention of renaming the town. They said the neighborhood
in which most Kandipara Ahmadis live is informally known as
"Ahmadiya Para," which is the designation they used on all
printed materials related to the event. The leaders are
willing to reprint everything using "Kandipara" instead, if
that will allow the Jalsa Salana to go ahead peacefully.


4. (C) Section 144 restrictions are generally lifted within
a few days of being invoked. The Ahmadiyas said they do not
know when this restriction will be lifted in this case, but
they intend to hold the Jalsa Salana in Brahmanbaria as soon
as the authorities allow. The Ahmadiya leadership went out
of their way to praise the district commissioner in
Brahmanbaria, saying he had issued all the permissions
necessary to hold the Jalsa Salana over the objections of the
local mosque and madrassa, and supports their right to have a
peaceful gathering.


5. (C) Comment: Post will continue to monitor this situation
closely. The presence of a kwami madrassa, housed in a
mosque built by Ahmadiyas in the 1930's and taken over by
religious bigots in the late 1980's, makes Brahmanbaria
communally volatile.
BUTENIS