Senior al-Wefaq Official:

Sectarian discrimination has become government doctrine in Bahrain

Rasa – Hujjat al-Islam al-Dayhi has said that the Al Khalifah regime in Bahrain has expanded sectarian discrimination across the island country.

News ID: 428338

Date: 23 March 2017 - 22:54

RNA – In a statement, Hujjat al-Islam Husayn al-Dayhi criticized Bahrain’s Al Khalifah regime’s continuing sectarian discrimination against the majority Shi’ah population of the tiny Persian Gulf kingdom and said, “The regime has practiced the most hideous face of sectarian discrimination in a mad and unrelenting manner, and due to the actions of the regime, this discrimination has transformed from a ‘governmental practice’ to ‘government doctrine.’”

The Deputy Secretary-General of the al-Wefaq National Islamic Society stated that the ruling regime in Bahrain discriminates in all aspects of life at all levels and in all governmental and other institutions and the perpetrators of this discrimination are encouraged and protected by the regime.

“Societies aren’t built through oppression, discrimination, sectarian division, strife and we strongly condemn this issue,” he added.

Hujjat al-Islam al-Dayhi stressed that the idea of religious discrimination dominates the beliefs of the ruling system and added, “We are witnesses of discrimination in the political, economic, social, cultural and religious arenas in Bahrain and the regime seeks to strengthen this discrimination. In regard to employment, education, health, housing the most basic rights, the regime attacks of the followers of a specific sect.”

He noted, “On the International Day against Racial Discrimination, we hoped that Bahrain wouldn’t be on the top of the list of countries which engage in various types and forms of discrimination but we have learned that the [Al Khalifah] regime has committed the worst forms of discrimination including religious, humanitarian and even thinking.”

The senior member of al-Wefaq stressed that this discrimination has reached the point where the families of the victims and detainees are also grappling with it and even those who offer their condolences to the families of the deaths of their oppressed children are also considered criminals.

Hujjat al-Islam al-Dayhi noted that the targeting of civilians by first name, surname, location and even their appearance at their places of employment and at checkpoints and their deprivation of a birth certificate for the children of protestors in order to prosecute their parents are only a few minor examples of the ongoing discrimination in Bahrain.

In conclusion, the Deputy Secretary-General of al-Wefaq said that while the Al Khalifah regime denies the presence of the Daesh Takfiri terrorist organization in Bahrain, terrorists have thoroughly infiltrated the country and instead of fighting this phenomenon, this terrorist regime is currently imposing strong pressure on its opponents.

After the February 14, 2011 uprisings erupted across Bahrain, the Al Khalifah regime showed an oppressive reaction by deploying Saudi regime army forces in the country suppressing massive peaceful rallies. It has also put pressure on different political parties and religious figures.

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