A number of Islamic organizations and Muslim figures from around the world have slammed the move by Al Khalifa regime to expel the representative of Ayatollah Sistani from Bahrain.
The Islamic Council of Bahrain’s Shia Scholars in a statement said Ayatollah Nijati, representative of Ayatollah Sistani, is a Bahraini citizen and must not be threatened to leave the country.
It said the scholar has a lofty status among the Muslim world scholars and sources of emulation and that insulting him is tantamount to insulting these great scholars.
The council called on Bahraini regime to stop putting pressure on Ulama (scholars) and avoid making decisions that could provoke sectarianism.
It further urged the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and other religious and human rights organizations in the world to play their role in applying pressure on the Bahraini regime to stop persecuting, arresting and expelling the country’s scholars.
Al-Wefaq Shia Society also described the threat against Ayatollah Nejati as unacceptable and illegal and said it violates international laws and human rights.
Sheikh Hassan Al-Tarki, director of the Islamic Culture and Media Council in Britain and the Islamic Dawa Society in Sweden also condemned the move and the attack by Bahraini regime forces on Ayatollah Nejati’s office.
Regime forces in Bahrain on Sunday raided the office of the representative of Ayatollah Ali al- Sistani in Manama.
The religious freedoms department of Bahrain Human Rights Watch said the security forces attacked the office of Ayatollah Sheikh Hussein Al-Nijati and took away the director of the office and another scholar working with the office for interrogation, Sawt al-Manama website reported.
The two Shia scholars were interrogated and insulted for six hours before being released, the report said.
The regime has also threatened to expel the cleric from the country.
Since mid-February 2011, thousands of pro-democracy protesters have staged numerous demonstrations in the streets of Bahrain, calling for the Al Khalifa royal family to relinquish power.
On March 14, 2011, troops from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates invaded the country to assist the Bahraini government in its crackdown on the peaceful protesters.
According to local sources, scores of people have been killed and hundreds arrested since the uprising began in the Persian Gulf country.
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