Bahá’í Faith is banned in most of the countries.

“IT APPEARS THAT AS HARD AS THE BAHA’IS MIGHT HAVE TRIED OVER THE YEARS TO DISMISS WHAT THEY LABEL "CONSPIRACY THEORIES" REGARDING THEIR CONNECTIONS TO THE BRITISH ESTABLISHMENT, MORE AND MORE SUCH THEORIES CONTINUE TO PERSIST- WHILE WITH EACH DAY MORE EVIDENCE EMERGES PROVING THESE THEORIES AS FACT RATHER THAN THEORY”.

During the 19th century, Britain had firm control over India; at the same time Russia had been expanding south and east into Central Asia toward India, and a rivalry started between Britain and Russia over territorial and political control in Central Asia. The piece of land that was located between India and Russian holdings, included Persia, was a highly coveted region, where both Russia and Britain worked to gain influence.

Briefly, the situation was –

• Support of the United Kingdom during the Constitutional Revolution,
• Anglo-Russian convention which solidified boundaries that identified control between Britain and Russia in Persia, Afghanistan, and Tibet,
• The occupation of Iranian territory during the First World War by the UK, Russia and the Ottoman Empire, as well as the coup d’état of 1921 which was backed by the British.

In such circumstances the Russian Government, to gain control over  central Asia - especially Iran created a false Religion called as Bahaism.

The Bahá’í Faith and the Bahá’ís have had ties to foreign powers, and were agents of Russian imperialism, British colonialism, American expansionism and International Zionism.

Left to right : Leroy loas, Ruhiyyih Khanum, President of Zionist State Ben Zvi, Mrs. Ben Zvi, Amelia Collins, Ali Akbar Furutan, Abul Qasim Faizi and Israeli Government Officials.

Picture courtesy : http://bahai-israel.webs.com/

Bahá’í teachings promote to be loyal to one’s government and not be involved in politics but the fact is exactly contrary to what is preached. Baha’is are always involved in politics and seen with political leaders. They are known to have been involved in espionage activities in  each and every country. This is the reason why they are banned in most of the countries. These countries found the followers of Bahá’í Faith, having dual loyalty and of being involved with foreign or hostile powers.

Some of these countries are:

EGYPT

The late PRESIDENT JAMAL ABDUL NASSER BANNED THE BAHA'I FAITH IN EGYPT IN 1960. His government found clear relationship between Baha'i Faith and Zionism. The President decree was as under:

Clause l: All Bahá’í Assemblies and Centers existing in the two regions of the Republic are hereby dissolved, and their activities suspended. Individuals, bodies and institutions are forbidden to engage in any activity, as was conducted by these Assemblies and Centers. The Minister of the Interior will issue the necessary instructions to bring to an end the activities of these Assemblies and Centers.

Clause 2: The properties of the Bahá’í Assemblies and Centers shall be taken over by officials appointed by the Minister of the interior. The Minister shall designate a guardian to be in custody of the funds, documents and papers owned by the said Assemblies

Clause 3: Any infringement of this law is an offence deserving imprisonment of a minimum of Six months, and/or a fine from 100 to 1000 Egyptian pounds.

Clause 4: This Decree shall be published in the Official Gazette, and will be enforced from the Date of publication.

INDONESIA
The President of Indonesia in 1960 dissolved Bahai Adminstration and made every Baha'i activity illegal Recently in 2009 Bahá’ís were arrested in Indonesia on Criminal Charges of violating "The Law of Child Protection". The Bahá’ís were prosecuted under the Law of Child Protection 23-2002 trying to convert children of other faith as young as 9 to 10 years.

IRAQ
President Saddam Hussain not only dissolved Baha'i organization in Iraq but issued an order that any Baha'i activity will be met with death sentence. Following the Baathist coup in 1963, the then leaders drastically limited the freedoms previously guaranteed to the Iraqi citizens. The new regime began with attempts to prevent Baha’i activity in Iraq in 1967. This culminated in the decision of the Directorate of Civil Status No. 358 24 / 7 / 1975 that stopped registration of Baha’is in the records of civil status.

In May 1970, the Iraqi Government banned all Baha'i Institutions and Baha'i activities. In mid December 1973, an incident created a stir which engulfed the life of many Baha’is. In a government owned school, many Baha'i girls were secretly propagating the Baha'i Faith to other classmates. The girls reported the matter to the authorities that propagation of an Israeli based Faith is going on in the campus. The matter was reported to the Ministry of education. He ordered the investigation on the following day. The investigation revealed a network of Israeli based organization is behind it. The head Master was dismissed and the girl was arrested together with her three Baha'i classmates Almost fifty people were arrested in the course of next few months. A military court sentenced fourteen of them to life imprisonment, three to fifteen years and nine to ten years in jail. Further severe action was taken against suspected members of this organization involved in conversion and espionage.

USSR
The former USSR called Baha’is as Enemy of State. Surprising indeed from a country which nurtured the Faith initially.

In 1937, “NKVD” (People’s Commissariat of Internal Affairs) outlawed about 40 Bahá’í communities existing at that time in USSR. From the 13th of October, all the members of the Bahá’í Spiritual Assembly of Baku and dozens of community members were arrested. All of them were punished for their illegal and anti State activities

The chairman of the Spiritual Assembly, Faraj Jaffargulu Gasimov (the nephew of the first Bahá’í from Salyan, Hadim Javad) and his wife, Fizza Muradova were imprisoned. The “NKVD” people called him “national enemy”. Many were imprisoned and a few Baha’is were exiled to Siberia.

In October 1938 the building of the Bahá’í center was confiscated in Baku. Now there is a kindergarten in this building.

In November 1982, KGB started arresting the Bahá’ís. S.D. Asadova, I.F. Gasimov and I.G. Ayyubov were arrested. All their meetings were declared illegal and every Baha'i activity forbidden. Even the greetings on the phone “Allah’u’Abha” were forbidden.

UNITED ARAB REPUBLIC 
The UAR Government called Baha’is as “state within the state”.

GERMANY
In 1937  Heinrich Himmler signed an order disbanding the Bahá’í institutions in Germany. In 1939 and in 1942 there were sweeping arrests of former members of the National Spiritual Assembly of Baha’is of Germany. In May 1944 there was a public trial in Darmstadt. The Bahá’ís were heavily fined and it's institutions continued to be disbanded.

Following the fall of Nazi Germany, and with American and British control of Germany, an American Bahá’í, John C. Eichenauer (a medic of the 100th Infantry division then at Geislingen) started searching for the Bahá’í community in Stuttgart. He drove through Stuttgart looking and asking for Bahá’ís and was able to find an individual. The next day saw the first meeting of Bahá’ís since their disbandment in 1937.

Two other American Bahá’ís, Bruce Davison and Henry Jarvis, in Frankfurt and Heidelberg respectively, also connected with the Bahá’í community in Germany. At the beginning of the partition of Germany there were about 150 German Bahá’ís in the American section and they became registered with the American authorities. The National Spiritual Assembly was re-elected in 1946. Needless to say, US was involved in establishment of Bahaism in post-war Germany. John C. Eichenauer, Bruce Davison and Henry Jarvis were established US secret agents.

IRAN
The Iranian Authorities always believed that Baha’is are the face of Israel in Iran. It is a well known fact that the Bahai Administration has issued statements for the Baha’is of Iran to go and teach the Iranians and face whatsoever consequences came. One should ask the Baha’is "where is the obedience to government" principle of the religion in this case?

Bahá’ís held many prominent positions in Iran during the Shah regime. In the government of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, half of the Shah’s cabinet were Bahá’ís.

Shah’s personal physician, Abd al-Karim Ayadi was a Baha'i. Amongst other Bahá’í who held position in the Shah regime was Asadullah Sanii. The then Minister of Defence, Parviz Sabeti, was raised in a Bahá’í family. The Prime Minister Amir-Abbas Hoveida was a Bahá’í. The Baha’is agree that Hoveida’s father was a Baha'i but say that Hoveida himself was not religious. Other Bahá’ís included Mahnaz Afkhami, who was the Minister for Women’s Affairs and the daughter of a Bahá’í mother and Farrokhroo Parsa, another cabinet member .

CIS COUNTRIES
More recently the Baha’is are being under strict surveillance in CIS countries like AZERBAIJAN, UZBEKISTAN, TAJAKISTAN etc. In fact Baha’is are being deported from Uzbekistan for secretly converting children under 15 years.
(Refer http://uzbekbahai.blogspot.com)

KYRGYZSTAN
The 2009 Religion Law, passed under former President Kurmanbek Bakiev was aimed at curtailing the Baha'i Activities. It stated “If a community has "administrative centres located beyond Kyrgyzstan or having foreign citizens in its administrative body" it is classified as a "mission". This community must re-register every year and does not have legal status. It's registration can be refused if it posses "a threat to the state and social security, the inter-ethnic and ecumenical concord, health and morality of the population, or in other cases anticipated by legislation.”

YEMEN
The Baha'i Faith is banned in Yemen since 2008. Many Baha’is were deported because of their conversion activities. Last year in Yemen four Baha’is were arrested by the Interior ministry for secretly propagating their religion. The three Baha’is of Iranian origin, Zia’u’llah Pourahmari, Keyvan Qadari, and Behrooz Rohani, were arrested in Sana’a, on the night of June 20, 2008. A fourth Baha’i, Sayfi Ibrahim Sayfi, was also arrested around the same time and was deported to Iraq.

According to the source close to the group, the men were arrested and taken to the national security headquarters’ prison where they spent 40 days – most of the time in isolated cells – before being sent to Sana’a General Investigation Department.

Countries like SAUDI ARABIA, OMAN, JORDAN, MOROCCO also see Baha’is as hands of Zionists.

The Bahá’í Faith was banned in the 1970s in several countries like:
BURUND in 1974;
MALI in 1976;
UGANDA in 1977;
CONGO in 1978;
NIGER in 1978.

INDIA
The world’s largest democracy India with all its secular credentials has come out with “Anti conversion law” in its 11 states so as to prevent this very secret sect from deceptive propagation. The law states:

Prohibition of forcible or deceptive conversion
No person shall convert or attempt to convert, either directly or otherwise, any person from one religious faith to any other religious faith by the use of force or by inducement or by any FRAUDULENT means nor shall any person abet any such conversion.

Converting Hindus in India just outside a Hindu Temple

Punishment for contravention of the provisions of Section 3
Any person contravening the provisions contained in section 3 shall, without prejudice to any civil liability, be punishable with Imprisonment to the extent of two years and fine up to ten thousand rupees.

According to a report published in India’s leading Newspaper, The Hindustan Times in July 2006, as per a complaint filed in city court - the members of National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of India were accused by their colleagues of using impersonations and forgery to clandestinely penetrate into prohibited defense establishment of the country and get hold of classified documents and supplied them to Israeli and Iranian spying agencies.

PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA AND NORTH KOREA
The Bahá’í Faith is not recognized in the People’s Republic of China and North Korea and so there is no organized Bahá’í activity.

JAPAN AND SOUTH KOREA
Even in countries such as Japan and South Korea, where there is religious freedom, the position of the Bahá’í Faith resembles that of Western Europe where Baha’is are only on paper.

MOROCCO
In Morocco in 1962-1963, 15 Bahá’ís were arrested for their religious convictions; three were given death sentences and several others years of prison term at hard labor. There were months of diplomatic efforts which bore no results.

On March 31, 1963 during a visit to the United States and the United Nations, King Hasan of Morocco was interviewed on television. He addressed the audience saying that “Though the Bahá’í Faith was against good order and morals" that he would still pardon the death sentences. It is evident that he succumbed to the US  pressure.

Arrest of Baha’is occurred again in 1984, due to their secret teaching activities and sending confidential reports to Israel. Bahá’ís have more recently been denied passports and can practice their religion only in private.

ISRAEL
Last but not the least... strange indeed - Baha’is are not supposed to teach in Israel. There is a total ban. The matter is very mysterious that although Israel supports Baha’is in all aspects, yet why the State of Israel does not permit the Baha’is to propagate the Bahai Faith.

Baha'is are not allowed to teach in Israel for "unknown reasons"

Quote : Whenever an Israeli citizen living in the West, irrespective of his background and religious affiliation, declares his belief and interest in becoming a member of the Bahá’í community ,he should be informed that the Faith is not taught in Israel and that there is no Bahá’í community there apart from those who are associated with the Bahá’í World Center. He cannot be accepted into the Bahá’í community if he is planning to return to Israel to reside there. If he plans to continue to reside outside Israel, his enrollment can be accepted, but he will then be subject to the same restrictions about travel to Israel as any other Bahá’í, in that he could do so only with the express permission of the Universal House of Justice.In any event, the Universal House of Justice should be informed of any such declaration.

(Letter from the Universal House of Justice, dated October 20, 1994, to several National Spiritual Assemblies)

This is why, should Jews wish to become Bahá’í even now, they need to leave Israel first.

WITH SUCH SUSPECT BACKGROUND, IS THERE A DOUBT ABOUT THE INTENT OF THIS FAITH???

Source :  http://groups.google.com/group/talk.religion.bahai/browse_thread/thread/a8127ca93143960f/61b706a02f540a4d?lnk=raot#61b706a02f540a4d