Middle East
Bahrain targets Shia religious sites
Part three in our exclusive series on Bahrain reveals the government destroyed
Shia mosques and religious institutions.
Last Modified: 13 May 2011 11:59
The Bahraini government has destroyed a number of mosques in continuation of
its aggressive crackdown on pro-democracy protesters, a special Al Jazeera
investigation reveals.
At least 28 mosques and Shia religious institutions have been destroyed in the
Gulf state since the crackdown on Shia-led protests began in Mid-March,
opposition group, Al Wefaq, told Al Jazeera's Charles Stratford.
The Justice Ministry, however, said it was tearing down the mosques because
they were not licenced.
Ordinary Bahraini's were hesitant to speak to our correspondent; they were
fearful of government informers who they said were everywhere.
"It is a war against identity," one man told our correspondent. "This Sunni
government of Bahrain is fighting the Shia, destroying their places of worship
and holy places."
Adel Al-Moawda, deputy Chairman of the Bahraini Parliament, denied the report
that mosques were being destroyed.
"The mosques that have been demolished, most of them are not mosques,"
Al-Moawda told Al Jazeera.
"There were only expansions of mosques in some private territories. Very few
numbers of mosques, which are illegally built, have been demolished."
He said Sunni mosques were also among these few that had been demolished. "What
is happening in Bahrain now ... everybody is following the law and order that
is all," he added.
Strong sense of fear
"The sense of fear amongst the people that you are trying to talk to is really
quite incredible," Stratford said.
He said Al Jazeera found it very difficult to find Sunni voices since the
crackdown began in mid-March.
"A lot of the sympathisers who were pushing for reform from the Sunni side have
gone into hiding, seemingly very intimidated by the crackdown," our
correspondent added.
"It is important to recognise that before the crackdown on the roundabout there
were sizable demonstrations by the Sunni population."
Earlier, Al Jazeera revealed that medics who worked to assist wounded
protesters have been targeted, with hundreds facing arrest and investigation by
the regime.
Bahraini police also carried out raids on girls' schools, detaining and beating
them, during its crackdown, secret filming by Al Jazeera's Stratford revealed.
The government denied this report. "The allegations made by Al Jazeera English
are totally baseless and without credibility," sources quoted by the Bahraini
news agency said.
Al-Moawda repeated the denial, saying "there is a big exaggeration in some of
what I have just heard now about torturing doctors and nurses".
This is the third in a series of exclusive reports from Bahrain.
Source:
Al Jazeera
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