Ahmadi teenager dies of injuries sustained in extremist attack in Bangladesh

The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community has denounced the death of an Ahmadi teenager from injuries sustained in an extremist attack in Bangladesh on 5 August.

According to an official statement from the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, during the Ahmednagar and Panchagarth attacks, Shahriar Rakeen was fatally hit on the head. Meanwhile, 22 others were also injured. 

The official statement of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is reproduced below: 

We regret to announce the death on 8 November this month of Shahriar Rakeen, a 16-year-old Bangladeshi youth, who was brutally assaulted during the extremist attacks on 5 August. 

During the Ahmednagar and Panchagarth attacks, Rakeen was hit on the head with a lethal weapon. Several hospitals tried to save his life, but he died at the Dhaka Neurosciences Hospital, where he had been admitted since 7 August. 

Twenty-two other people were also injured during the violence against the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. 

The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is under constant threat in the area and we fear that false allegations against them are on the increase. 

We therefore call for an end to the conspiracies and harassment to which our community is subjected and for the government to take action against the conspirators who incite hatred. 

We have been speaking out for many years against attacks on houses, shops, places of worship and graves of Ahmadi Muslims. Attacks against their members are on the increase. Most of these events have come to light through social media and international NGOs. 

Therefore, once again, we strongly urge the international community to urge the Government of Bangladesh to assume its responsibility to provide effective protection and freedom of religious practice to Ahmadis, ensure that the perpetrators of such criminal acts are brought to justice, and to bring its laws and practices in line with international standards, as set out in Articles 20, 2, 18 and 20 of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and Articles 25 and 26 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.