RNA – Shi’a Muslims in Bahrain amassed near the Imam al-Sadiq Mosque in the northwestern village of Diraz, situated about 12 kilometres (seven miles) west of the capital Manama, to express their resentment over the suspension of the religious ritual by Al Khalifah.
Carrying photos of Bahrain’s top cleric, Ayatollah Isa Qasim, the worshippers chanted different slogans and condemned the Manama regime’s efforts to restrict Shi’a Muslims’ freedom of religion and belief.
They also called on the international community not to remain silent and take action in the face of the Bahraini regime’s suppression of dissident.
On June 20, Bahraini authorities stripped distinguished Ayatollah Qasim of his citizenship less than a week after suspending the country’s main opposition bloc, the al-Wefaq National Islamic Society, and dissolving the Islamic Enlightenment Institution, founded by Ayatollah Qasim, and opposition al-Risalah Islamic Association.
Since February 14, 2011, thousands of anti-regime protesters have held numerous demonstrations in Bahrain on an almost daily basis, calling on the Al Khalifah family to relinquish power.
In March that year, troops from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates — themselves repressive Arab regimes — were deployed to the country to assist the Bahraini government in its crackdown on peaceful protests.
Scores of people have been killed and hundreds of others injured or arrested in Manama’s crackdown on the anti-regime activists.
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