Alwaght- Prominent Islamic scholars in Bahrain have warned that the Al Khalifa regime is unfairly targeting Shiite Muslims who are the majority in the tiny Persian Gulf kingdom.
In a statement released on Monday, four prominent scholars called on the authorities to stop such acts against the country's Shia majority.
"As a genuine component in this country (the Shiite component), we believe that we are targeted in our presence, identity, beliefs, slogans and rituals. “So we call for stopping such targeting," said the statement, signed by Ayatollah Sheikh Isa Qasim, Sayyed Abdullah Ghuraifi, Sheikh Abdul Hussein al-Satri and Sheikh Mohammad Saleh al-Rabii.
The Statement comes a day after a Bahraini court ordered the dissolution of main opposition group al-Wefaq, and the seizure of its funds. Ayatollah Sheikh Isa Qasim himself, the spiritual leader of al-Wefaq, was stripped of his Bahraini citizenship last month.
Sunday's move was part of a wide crackdown on political dissent in Bahrain.
Al-Wefaq’s secretary general, Sheikh Ali Salman, has been in prison since December 2014 on charges of attempting to overthrow the regime and collaborating with foreign powers, charges he has denied. A court sentenced him to four years in prison in June 2015.
Meanwhile, al-Wefaq, has slammed as sectarian and oppressive a decision to dissolve the movement. In a statement issued late on Sunday, the group said that the "decision to dissolve al-Wefaq represented the autocratic mentality which has been reigning in Bahrain. It also proves the absence of state and that the law is not implemented."
"Claims made by the authorities against al-Wefaq lacked legal and political justifications, especially that this group represents the majority of the Bahraini people when it won more than 64 percent of the votes in 2006 and 2010 elections," the statement added.
The group noted that "there is a real conflict between a project of autocratic rule and project of people who call for democracy and just.”Meanwhile, it warned against "a sectarian project which rests on crushing the Shiite sect in Bahrain."
"The authorities are dangerously attacking the Shiite sect with its properties, figures, scholars and associations."
A Bahraini court on Sunday ordered the dissolution of al-Wefaq, and the seizure of its funds. A judicial source said that the so-called administrative court in Manama ordered the dissolution of al-Wefaq, almost a month after the regime suspended its activities.
The suspension of Al-Wefaq Society in June was widely condemned by international human rights bodies and governments. Most recently, on 7 July 2016, the European Parliament adopted - with a large majority - a resolution condemning recent human rights abuses by Bahraini authorities, and strongly called for an end to the ongoing repression against the country’s human rights defenders, political opposition and civil society. This and other recent actions taken by the government of Bahrain are of grave concern.
Sheikh Isa QasimOn the 16th of July, the authorities announced the spiritual leader of Shiite Muslims Sheikh Isa Qasim, and other religious figures will be taken to court in order to be prosecuted over charges relating to their freedom of religion – essentially they’re being tried for practicing Shiite Islam. This comes following the Ministry of Social Development’s closure of Al-Risala Islamic Society and the Islamic Enlightenment Society. Significantly, these were the two remaining bastions of the Shiite Muslim community in Bahrain.
On 20 June 2016, Sheikh Isa Qasim had his citizenship revoked, and reportedly is being threatened with forcible deportation. Last month, the Bahraini King promulgated a bill amending the 2005 Political Societies Law, placing a ban on participation in political decision-making based on discriminatory religious grounds. Furthermore, the court’s sentence against Sheikh Ali Salman, Secretary-General of Al-Wefaq Society, was doubled to nine years’ imprisonment.
Western media has been portraying the conflict in Bahraini as a Shia-Sunni issue just because the majority in Bahrain are Shiite Muslims. This is while what is happening in Bahrain is the protest of a nation against the oppression that is being imposed on it, just like what happened in Tunisia and Egypt and just like what is happening in Libya and Yemen.
