Dhaka, April 17 : Police in Bangladesh fired teargas shells to disperse a several-thousand-strong mob of Islamist bigots that attacked a village of the Ahmadiya Muslim sect in southwest Shatkhira district Sunday.

The Islamists stoned the Ahmadiya mosque and houses of people of the sect, injuring several. The mob had gathered at Jatindranagar and marched towards the locality where several hundred Ahmadiyas - a minority Muslim sect - stay.

After their attempt to disperse the mob failed, the police put a signboard at the Ahmadiya mosque that read: “It’s not a mosque and no Muslim will enter here for namaj (prayer).”

Earlier, the Islamists announced that they would eliminate the Ahmadiya people from Bangladesh by the year 2005.

Maulana Noor Hossain Noorani announced: “We will eliminate the Ahmadiya community from the country by this year.”

Members of the Ahmadiya community in Bangladesh, about 100,000 in number, have been living in fear of attacks after different Islamist groups started a hate campaign against them. The Islamists have demanded the Ahmadiyas be labelled ‘non-Muslims’ and have carried out attacks on the community in different parts of the country since October 2003.

Following demands from different Islamist groups, the government in January 2004 banned all publications of the Ahmadiya Muslim Jamaat, evoking protests in the country and abroad.

The Bangladesh High Court on Dec 21 had stayed the government ban order. (IANS)