Rafiqul Islam Khoka, a member of the Ahmadiyya community, lives in Jamalpur’s Chandra. He has a small stationery shop beside his house but the sale is not great, he says. “It is because I am a Qadiani the villagers do not want to buy products from my shop,” Khoka says.
The Ahmadiyya community, also known as Qadiani, in Bangladesh is marginalized and has come under attack at various times. The latest one took place on March 30 when a large group people, armed with sharp weapons, attacked an Ahmadiyya mosque at Jamalpur’s Madarganj upazila after Friday prayers, leaving more than 20 worshippers injured.
Members of Ahmadiyya community claimed that local Awami League leader Moneer Munshi had led the attack. The allegation could not be verified independently.
About a thousand Qadiani families in Jamalpur are living in fear since the attack. Some of them have already fled their localities fearing more hate attacks. Many others say they are hiding their religious identities.
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Tayeb Ali, a resident of the village, was also injured in the March 30 attack. He claimed that he was not a member of the Ahmadiyya community, contrary to the villagers’ claim. “I had gone to the [Ahmadiyya] mosque to offer prayers, to learn about their faith,” he claimed.
None of the locals who spoke to the Dhaka Tribune was willing to disclose their names.
Sharishabari Ahmadiyya Jamaat President Faridul Islam, and several others said they had gone to offer prayers at the Madarganj mosque when they were attacked.
They said they did not force anyone to follow their ideology but still they were attacked without any reason.
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Jamalpur district’s Ahmadiyya Jamaat South teacher Asaduzzaman Rajib said that peace was being disrupted because of hardliners such as Khatme Nabuat Bangladesh and Jamaat-e-Islami.
“They have attacked us several times,” he claimed. “They are disturbing the peace. We do not have any disputes with others. They (radical groups) are creating the discord.”
There are approximately 10,000 Ahmadis living in Brahmanbaria, another 3,500 in Kishoreganj and 3,000 more in Mymensingh.
Thursday, June 04, 2026
