Sharishabari, Bangladesh - Ahmadiyyas at Sharishabari of Jamalpur remain incommunicado at their houses as the local religious bigots continue intimidating and harassing the families belonging to the sect.
Seeking a government move declaring the Ahmadiyyas non-Muslim, the fanatics mobilised by Ittefaqul Ulama have been threatening to kill the Ahmadiyyas if they get out of their houses and mix with the other people in the neighbourhood.
In the face of constant threats, some two thousand Ahmadiyyas have been keeping themselves confined to their houses, without attending offices or going about other businesses for the last couple of days.
The anti-Ahmadiyya campaign at Sharishabari intensified after a Khatme Nabuwat rally at Fulbaria Ijarapara Thursday. At the rally, the Ittefaqul leaders asked the locals to boycott Ahmadiyyas.
During Jum'a prayers at different local mosques Friday, they called on the locals to unite against the Ahmadiyyas.
When six-year-old Sourav went to a nearby grocery the same day, shopkeeper Rois Uddin refused to sell any goods to him.
He told the boy that the Ittefaqul Ulama leaders had forbidden them to sell anything to Ahmadiyyas "as they are not Muslim".
The zealots threw stones at the house of Ahmadiyya leader Shamsuddin Master Friday evening. At night, they went so far as to throw excreta and garbage at the house.
Besides, they hurled torrents of abuse at the family members, and threatened to drive them off the area and kidnap Shamsuddin's young daughter.
Since the rally on Thursday, members of the sect have been living in constant fear of attacks from the bigots. They have pleaded with the local administration to ensure security for them, otherwise they feared they might be starved to death.
Noor Hossain Nurani, president of Khatme Nabuwat Movement Bangladesh, who addressed the Thursday's rally, told The Daily Star last night, "Ahmadiyyas are not Muslims and so we've asked all local Muslims to stop having any kind of contact with them."