Incident
report:
Attack on Ahmadia Mosque
 Police
in Bangladesh say at least six people have been killed
and twelve injured in an attack on a mosque.
The grenade or bomb attack happened in the southern town
of Khulna when about 100 people were attending Friday
prayers.
The place of worship was used exclusively by the minority
Ahmadiya community, who have been targeted by some fundamentalist
groups among the country's majority Sunni Muslim community.
[ image: ]
They have demanded the Ahmadiya community be declared
non-Muslim because they believe Mohammed was not the last
prophet of Islam.
The minority Ahmadiyas, or Qadianis, have suffered previous
attacks but this one was particularly bloody.
In January an Ahmadiya mosque was torn down in Kushtia,
also in southern Bangladesh, and several houses were burned.
Divergent Islamic beliefs
The Ahmadiyas say they are Muslims but differ from other
Islamic groups in that they believe that the founder of
their movement, Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmed, was the messiah.
They also believe that Jesus did not die on the cross,
but instead died of natural causes in Kashmir and is buried
there.
Fewer than 100,000 Bangladeshis are estimated to belong
to the sect.
They're unpopular in many parts of the country because
of their unusual beliefs and police suspect that the attack
was carried out by those who oppose the sect and believe
it should be banned.
Ahmadiya leaders say the security forces have done little
to protect their members from attack in the past. But
this explosion is certain to embarrass the authorities
at a time when they've promised to improve law and order.
Investigation
Report
5/04 No charge sheet
News
links
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/469548.stm
|
