Alwaght- Bahraini forces stormed into the home village of the country's Shiite Muslim spiritual leader on Tuesday.
The security operation reportedly aims at dispensing people from the site of an encampment outside house of Ayatollah Qassim in Diraz where the prominent cleric's followers have been holding sit-in since June 20, 2016, when the authorities revoked his citizenship.
Regime forces have killed at least one person, Bahraini activists told on social media. Prominent human rights activist Nabeel Rajab, twitting from prison, identified the young man who killed by Al Khalifa forces as Mohamed Khadim ZainAldeen.
People mourn death of Mohamed Khadim ZainAldeen at hands of Bahraini Forces in Diraz Village. 23 May 2017: Twiiter
The rare incursion into Diraz follows Ayatollah Isa Qassim's sentencing this week to one year in jail suspended for three years.
The US-backed regime's court convicted Ayatollah Sheikh Isa Qassim of waht it says collecting funds illegally and money laundering ordering the cleric to pay 100,000 Bahraini dinar ($265,266) in fines. The charges emanate from the collection of an Islamic tax called Khums, which in Shiite Islam is collected and spent by a senior cleric in the interests of the needy.
"The implementation of security operation in Diraz village began this morning ... to impose security and general order after the area became a haven for people wanted in security cases and fugitives from justice," the ministry claimed on its official Twitter account.
In reaction to the repressive verdict, Bahrain's senior Islamic scholars have said that the trial and conviction of Sheikh Qassim, represented a major shock. They believed it also represents "the persecution of the Shiite Islam and its beliefs", while warning that the verdict which disenfranchises Shiites will have grim repercussions.
In Shiite Islam, Khums is part Furu' al-Deen - the branches of religion- according to which every believer should pay one fifth of the annual surplus income that is spent by marja's (religious authorities) in cases they infer as expedient based on religion.
Therefore, in a country such as Bahrain where the majority of Muslims adhere to Shiite Islam, criminalizing the collection of Khums is tantamount to suppression of religious beliefs and obligations. The Manama regime has not only criminalized the collection of Khums but has gone ahead and grabbed properties worth $8 Million acquired from contribution by Shiite Muslims in the Persian Gulf Kingdom for distribution to the needy.
The Bahraini regime was expected to issue a tougher verdict against Ayatollah Qassim but could not dare execute such a move in fear of far reaching repercussions. Masses in Bahrain have shown the ability for consistency in their resistance against the western-backed Al Khalifa regime. Since the beginning of the Islamic awakening uprising in February 2011, Bahrainis have demonstrations on an almost daily basis demanding that the Khalifah dynasty relinquish power and a just system representing all Bahrainis be established. Despite the presence of Saudi and UAE troops assisting regime forces in the crackdown, the masses have persisted in their resistance. Anti-regime demonstrators have also been staging sit-in protests in Diraz village since June outside the residence of Sheikh Qassim to express their solidarity with the 79-year-old cleric since authorities revoked Sheikh Qassim’s citizenship last year.
