Bahraini religious scholars announce national mourning to honor Diraz victims

Bahraini religious scholars have declared an open-ended national mourning in commemoration of the slain supporters of prominent religious scholar, Ayatollah Sheikh Isa Qassim, who lost their lives after Aal-e Khalifah minority regime forces opened fire at them.

The religious scholars, in a statement released on Wednesday, asked all Bahraini men and women to continue staging sit-ins in support of Ayatollah Sheikh Qassim, who is the spiritual leader of the country’s dissolved opposition bloc, the al-Wefaq National Islamic Society, in al-Fida Square of the northwestern village of Diraz and ramp up resistance against regime troops, Arabic-language Bahrain al-Yaum news agency reported.

The statement also urged shopkeepers and owners of commercial establishments to down their shutters on Wednesday and Thursday, and attend the demonstrations in honor of Diraz martyrs.

The religious scholars said Sheikh Qassim’s fate remains unknown a day after Manama regime forces broke into his residence, killing at least six people and wounding dozens more.

The soldiers fired birdshot and teargas to disperse supporters of the clergyman, and detained 286 of them. Reports said 19 policemen were also injured in the clashes.

Bahraini Shia Muslim religious scholars further noted that the nation will eventually turn the tables and prevail, warning that people from all walks of life will not tolerate the ruling Aal-e Khalifah regime’s harm to Sheikh Qassim.

The statement also held Hamad bin Isa Aal-e Khalifah, the ruler of the tiny Persian Gulf island country, fully responsible for the fate of the top cleric and those arrested during the Tuesday skirmishes in Diraz.

SS