Ahmadiyya community in Bangladesh and India
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 1 March 1990 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | IND4096 |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Ahmadiyya community in Bangladesh and India, 1 March 1990, IND4096, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6ab4d34.html [accessed 4 June 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
Information on the Ahmadi Muslim community in Bangladesh is not currently available to the IRBDC.
Specific information on the treatment of members of the Ahmadi Muslim faith by members of other religious groups including Hindus or other Muslims in India is not currently available to the IRBDC. The President of the Ahmadiyya Association in Toronto states that there is a very small Ahmadi community in India. He suggests that Ahmadi Muslims may encounter difficulties if they reside in a remote area where Hindu-Muslim tensions are pronounced. [ Ahmadiyya Association in Toronto, 19 December 1989.] Whether Ahmadi Muslims would be singled out over other Muslim populations by opposing religious factions is not discussed among the sources currently available to the IRBDC.
Intercommunal violence between the Hindu and Muslim populations has occurred throughout India during the 1980s. For example, in October 1989, the police were issued "shoot-at-sight" orders to quell disturbances in Indore Township (Madhya Pradesh). [ "12 Killed in Indore; `Shoot-at-Sight' Orders", Delhi Domestic Service, (FBIS-NES-89-198), 16 October 1989, p. 58.] At least 100 people were injured and 24 killed in the Hindu-Muslim clashes on 14 and 16 October 1989. Intercommunal violence occurs in many other states as well, for example, in Gujarat, "caste wars have become a fairly regular feature." [ Ravi Nair and David Bergman, State Terrorism in Punjab, An Investigative Report, (London: India Information Centre, January 1989), p.1.] In early 1985, inter-caste violence within the Hindu community began over an increase in the number of places reserved for members of certain castes in employment and higher education. [ Keesing's Record of World Events, Essex: Longman, Volume XXXII, February 1986, p. 34173.] Although the inter-caste violence initially involved only the Hindu community, the Muslim community was "soon caught up in the disturbances", and in May and June (1985) a number of people died in Hindu-Muslim fighting. [ Keesing's, Volume XXXII, p. 34174.] The undercurrent of Hindu-Muslim tension has spawned demonstrations, riots and violence for many years.
In July 1986, sectarian fighting between Hindus and Muslims left more than 49 dead in five days of fighting. [ "Indian Police Fire at Mobs as Sectarian Strife Escalates", The Globe and Mail, 15 July 1986.] Muslim and Hindu rioters set fire to buildings and some Muslims were also burned alive in Ahmedabad, which has a long history of Hindu-Muslim clashes. [ "Moslems Burned Alive in Sectarian Violence", The Globe and Mail, 14 July 1986.]
