The Assistant Undersecretary of Legal Affairs at the Interior Ministry Brigadier Mohammed Buhamood said on Sunday that several incidents have occurred during the events that mix religion and politics with the aim of incitement.

Besides those who were referred to the public prosecution, a number of managers of the community centres where these incidents took place were issued a warning and were asked to maintain the religious sanctity of the occasion by keeping politics out of such events.

He stressed the importance of maintaining the integrity of religious ceremonies and places of worship and reiterated that the use of such venues and activities as tools to divisively politicise the participants must stop.  He noted that while freedom of religion is respected in Bahrain, it is not an iron curtain behind which politically explosive activities can be used to incite violence.

shamada@khaleejtimes.com