AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): A renowned Bahraini Maddah (elegist) said he has been barred from leaving the country to attend mourning rituals abroad during the lunar Hijri month of Muharram.
Mahdi Sahwan said in a post on X that he has been summoned by the Manama police.
The police informed him that he is not allowed to travel abroad in Muharram to take part in Ashura ceremonies, according to the post, the Bahrain Mirror reported.
Sahwan had been planned to recite elegies in mourning rituals at the Islamic Center of England during Muharram.
He has to inform the center that he cannot travel to Britain.
The Al Khalifa regime in Bahrain has in recent years taken measures to hinder mourning rituals that the country’s Shia majority organize during the month of Muharram.
Shia Muslims around the world mourn the martyrdom of Imam Hussein (AS), the Sayyid-ul-Shuhada (master of martyrs), in Muharram, the first month in the lunar Hijri calendar.
The third Shia Imam (AS) and a small group of his followers and family members were martyred by the tyrant of his time - Yazid Bin Moaweya, in the battle of Karbala on the tenth day of Muharram (known as Ashura) in the year 680 AD.
The measures included summoning those organizing mourning rituals to threaten them.
Bahrain has seen anti-regime protests over the past years. The major demand has been the ouster of the Al Khalifa regime and the establishment of a just and conclusive system representing all Bahraini nationals.
The Manama regime, in return, has ignored the calls and is pressing ahead with its heavy-handed crackdown and persecution of human rights campaigners and political dissidents.
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