RNA – In an interview with Rasa News Agency, Rashid al-Rashid, a member of the central council of Bahrain’s Islamic Action Society, referred to the latest developments in Bahrain and the command of the scholars to demonstrate in support of Ayatollah Isa Qasim, the spiritual leader of Bahrain’s oppressed Shi’ah majority and said, “Ayatollah Qasim isn’t just a scholar or a source of emulation for the people of Bahrain but he has great popularity, such that no one in Bahrain is accepted by the people as much as he is. For this reason, the actions of the dictatorship of Al Khalifah are perpetrating entirely aimed at creating a crisis in the country.”
He emphasized the Al Khalifah regime’s goals in increasing the pressure on the scholars, saying, “Hamad ibn Isa, the king of Bahrain, aggravated the already unfavourable and dangerous physical condition of Ayatollah Qasim in order to use him as a bargaining chip in the political struggle against the people and they will also force the Bahraini people and religious and revolutionary leaders to leave the country while the Bahraini Revolution has led to hundreds of people being martyred, thousands of people being wounded and people being imprisoned for political reasons throughout the past several years. By aggravating Ayatollah Qasim's physical condition, the Al Khalifah regime seeks to discourage people from the ideals of the revolution and force them to retreat from their demands.”
The Bahraini revolutionary activist added, “In order to allow Ayatollah Qasim to leave his home and to be treated, the Al Khalifah regime, in effect, wants people to return to their homes, stop their peaceful protests and for the thousands of martyrs to be forgotten. The hated and brutal Al Khalifah regime doesn’t allow Ayatollah Qasim to be treated. He is more than eighty years old and at this age, it’s normal to be need of medical care and surgery. Unfortunately, the Al Khalifah not only doesn’t permit his treatment but also doesn’t allow his children to visit him in order that they won’t know about their father’s physical condition.”
al-Rashid noted that the Al Khalifah regime sent an ambulance to take Ayatollah Qasim to the Bahrain Central Prison Hospital because he was a political prisoner and should be admitted to the prison hospital, but Ayatollah Qasim wasn’t prepared to leave his home until they announce that they have no confidence in the Al Khalifah regime. International organizations, human rights institutions, religious scholars and religious and political figures have warned against the state of health of Ayatollah Qasim, demanding the removal of the siege on his home and permission given to treat him along with the announcement of the name of the hospital and the names of the doctors treating him.
In another part of his speech, he considered Ayatollah Qasim as a symbol of the peacefulness of the Bahraini Revolution, saying, “That Al Khalifah regime has calculated on the current situation of Ayatollah Qasim is perhaps a strategy of retreat from the regime that we have seen in regards to Ayatollah Qasim but the fact is that after five days of aggravating his bad physical condition, nothing has been done by the government and this great scholar has endured a lot of pain. Al Khalifah intends to gradually move towards martyring Ayatollah Qasim unless he rescinds from the legal and religious demands of the people who have sacrificed hundreds of martyrs in this revolution.”
The member of Bahrain’s Islamic Action Society continued, “Al Khalifah sent doctors to Ayatollah Qasim’s house but not to treat him but with the aim of reporting to the government how long his physical condition has been weak or if he is on the verge of death. The Al Khalifah regime itself doesn’t know that they will lead the country to nowhere. God forbid, if something happens to Ayatollah Qasim, nobody can guess what the consequences will be. People in more than fifty areas of Bahrain are supporting massive demonstrations in support of Ayatollah Qasim and calling for his release.”
al-Rashid expressed strong conflicts among supporters of Ayatollah Qasim and officials of the Al Khalifah regime. Demonstrations in various areas of Bahrain were faced with a massive attacks by the security forces of the Al Khalifah regime in which dozens of people were wounded. If the interpretation is correct, the people were angry and even women came to the streets in support of Ayatollah Qasim. The conspiracy that Al Khalifah is implementing is aimed at attacking religious and political leaders and remove them from all political, social and religious activities in Bahrain.
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