Cablegate: Anti-Ahmadiya Protests in Dhaka Fizzle Out
VZCZCXRO4504
RR RUEHCI
DE RUEHKA #3888 1801014
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 291014Z JUN 06
FM AMEMBASSY DHAKA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9155
INFO RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 9192
RUEHKT/AMEMBASSY KATHMANDU 8597
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD 1185
RUEHLM/AMEMBASSY COLOMBO 7495
RUEHCI/AMCONSUL CALCUTTA
UNCLAS DHAKA 003888
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL BG
SUBJECT: ANTI-AHMADIYA PROTESTS IN DHAKA FIZZLE OUT
1. SUMMARY. A new wave of anti-Ahmadiya protests in Dhaka
fizzled out when attempts by the extremist Khatme Nabuwat
Andolan Bangladesh (KNAB) movement to take over an Ahmadiya
mosque were thwarted by police. The quick police reaction
diffused a potentially violent situation with minimal
violence, generating praise for the Home Ministry from the
Ahmadiyas and civil society organizations. Follow-on threats
by the KNAB to shut down Uttara and seize the airport failed
to materialize. END SUMMARY.
2. KNAB leader Noor Hossain Nurani announced plans to take
over the Ashkona Ahmadiya Mosque in the Uttara neighborhood
in Dhaka to draw attention to his group's demand that the
parliament declare the Ahmadiyas "non-Muslim" by June 29.
According to the Ahmadiya Muslim Jamaat (AMJ), the principle
Ahmadiya organization in Bangladesh, Nurani began assembling
supporters at five mosques and madrassas around Uttara on
June 21 with the intention of seizing Ashkona on June 23.
3. Alarmed Ahmadiya community leaders asked the Prime
Minister's office to provide police protection and prevent
the seizure of the mosque complex. Twenty-two Ahmadiya
families living in Uttara also appealed to the BDG for
protection, and the AMJ launched a widespread information
campaign designed to rally support. Several civil society and
non-governmental organizations expressed support for the
Ahmadiyas and announced they would assist in protecting the
mosque.
4. According to Ahmadiya and police sources, on the morning
of June 23 approximately 1,500 to 2,000 KNAB marchers, many
wielding long bamboo sticks, gathered for a rally in Uttara
where Nurani reiterated the group's main demands. He then
led a march towards the Ashkona mosque. The police deployed
over 3,000 police in the Uttara area to prevent violence and
cordon off the Ahmadiya complex. After coming up against
police barricades, Nurani and his followers marched into the
middle of the main access road to Dhaka-Zia International
Airport to hold afternoon prayers. When they tried to block
traffic, damaging two vehicles, the police dispersed them
using batons. Some ten to 20 people were injured in the
melee.
5. Following the KNAB's failure to take the mosque Nurani
announced a dawn-to-dusk hartal in Uttara for June 25 and 26
and added the demand that the Bangladeshi parliament pass a
law declaring Mohammad the "last prophet." Journalists
informed us that although traffic to the airport was light on
the morning of June 25, the hartal never materialized.
Police broke up the main KNAB pro-hartal procession as it
tried to march through Uttara, injuring Nurani in the
process. There were no signs of hartals or protestors on
June 26.
6. From his hospital bed Nurani vowed to continue his
movement, declaring a "siege" of Zia International Airport on
the morning of June 29. The police told us ahead of time
that there was "no way" they would permit the group to shut
down the airport or access road. No protestors showed up for
the airport siege, and Nurani later cancelled it. He
announced a new siege of Ahmadiya facilities in the Noddapara
neighborhood of Dhaka for July 4.
7. In summing up the events of the week, Ahmad Tabshir, the
main AMJ spokesperson, told us that although the Ahmadiya
community was initially alarmed by this latest offensive
against them they were "very happy" with the actions of the
government. "If the government continues to take such
actions, the zealots will be discouraged from further actions
against us," Tabshir told us. Regarding the police, Tabshir
commended them for keeping the protestors away from Ahmadiya
installations.
8. COMMENT. The failure of the KNAB protests demonstrates a
lack of popular support for these types of anti-Ahmadiya
actions. The major political parties do not take the demands
of the KNAB seriously, and there is no significant support
for anti-Ahmadiya legislation in parliament. Given the poor
turnout and strong police deterrent role at this week's
KNAB-organized program, it is highly unlikely that the
protest on July 4 will be any more successful. Furthermore,
the Home Ministry and police deserve credit for protecting
the Ahmadiya facilities and dispersing the protestors. END
COMMENT.
BUTENIS