Region | Egypt
Villagers say no to Bahais as neighbours
Local officials and politicians in the Upper Egyptian city of Sohag, some 450km south of Cairo, are desperately trying to defuse tensions triggered by the refusal of Muslim inhabitants of a village to accept Bahais as their neighbours, local media reported Wednesday.
- By Ramadan Al Sherbini, Correspondent
- Published: 22:22 August 26, 2009
Cairo: Local officials and politicians in the Upper Egyptian city of Sohag, some 450km south of Cairo, are desperately trying to defuse tensions triggered by the refusal of Muslim inhabitants of a village to accept Bahais as their neighbours, local media reported Wednesday.
The Muslims in Awalad Yehia village said that having Bahais in their village, known for its Muslim clerics, would put them to shame. The Bahais at the centre of the crisis are inhabitants of villages destroyed by torrential rains. "Resettling the Bahais in our village will be on our bodies," said an angry Muslim.
Earlier this year, the Muslim dwellers of another village in Sohag set houses owned by Bahais on fire.
Islam, Christianity and Judaism are the only religions recognised in Egypt. But earlier this year, an Egyptian court ordered the government not to force the Bahais - a minority estimated at 2,000 in the country - to indicate a certain religion on their official documents.
In compliance with the ruling, the Ministry of Interior last month issued identity cards for twin Bahais with a blank marked in the category of religion.
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