Bahrain Mirror: Bahrain Forum for Human Rights stated that the Bahraini authorities' campaign against Ashura Banners and Slogans reflects "the deep-rooted hatred and discrimination in the government's structure," pointing out that "turning the state whose duty is to protect freedoms into a terrorizer of citizens and violator of their religious rights raises dozens of questions about the sides responsible for the incidents that took place in Damestan and Al-Hamla and whether the authorities were involved."

In a statement issued on Saturday (October 17, 2015), BFHR added that "these violations committed by the security forces such as taking down Ashura banners, sculptures and black flags and threatening to take measures against religious discourse, although the government media and figures close to the authorities are still delivering hate speeches, not to mention all kinds of sectarian suppression against the indigenous Shiite Bahrainis all confirm the validity of PEW warnings that the authorities are striving to put an end to the presence of an entire religious sect in the country according to a report issued in 2014."

"Why are the authorities insisting on not allowing the UN special rapporteur on religious freedoms to visit Bahrain," the forum wondered, asking why "38 mosques and religious centers were destroyed, a group of religious scholars were stripped of their nationalities and the levels of racial and religious discrimination have increased in the past few years."

"All this clearly shows that the level of the authorities' aggressiveness against the religious freedoms of a main indigenous national group of Bahrainis which is the Shia," BFHR further stated, stressing that "when the authorities start to respect the basic rights of citizens, it will be the beginning of the solution to the crisis in Bahrain."

Arabic Issue