US embassy cable - 05DHAKA1802

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