Bahrain’s opposition Al-Wefaq group said this year’s Ashura commemorations faced an unprecedented crackdown, accusing the authorities of systematically targeting the Shiite religious occasion through arrests, interrogations, and the disruption of long-standing practices and events.
“Ten days encapsulated the true face of the authorities, the absence of the rule of law, and an assault on religious freedoms through the targeting of the country’s most important and largest religious season, which has been observed for hundreds of years,” Al-Wefaq said in a statement.
According to the opposition group, the government’s measures were not intended to organize Ashura but to suppress and control every aspect of the commemorations through intimidation and sweeping restrictions.
“All of these unjustified directives and decisions come within the context of a comprehensive war against the indigenous component of this country,” Al-Wefaq added, noting that the Ashura crackdown is part of a wider campaign marked by the arrest of clerics, state control of religious institutions, citizenship revocations, and sectarian targeting.
Al Wefaq underscored the need for political reform while urging Manama to end its restrictions on Shiite religious observances and calling on Bahrainis to continue asserting their right to commemorate Ashura.
