[AnNahar] Thousands of protesters in Bangladesh's capital Friday clashed with police, as security forces used tear gas and batons against demonstrators angry over what they perceived as an image insulting Islam that had gone viral over social media.Police said that the street protests began after the main Friday prayers at the Baitul Mukarram mosque in the center of Dhaka.
Demonstrators gathered to protest images that earlier emerged on social media of a copy of the Quran — Islam's holy book — at the feet of a statue in a Hindu temple in eastern Bangladesh.
The clashes in the capital city follow reported incidents of vandalism at Hindu temples across other parts of the Muslim-majority country. The rise in communal tensions came as the minority Hindus celebrated the last day of their largest religious festival —the Durga Puja.
Sajjad Hossain, a deputy commissioner of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police, said several people were injured after the police charged with batons and tear gas to disperse the crowd which was attempting to break through a police barricade.
"They started pelting stones at us, they attacked us," Hossain said.
It was not clear immediately how many were injured in the melee, authorities said.
At least three of the protesters were detained for questioning, the deputy commissioner added.
Protesters chanted anti-India slogans and criticized Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, whom critics accuse of being close with New Delhi.
Bangladeshi authorities have ordered an investigation into the image of Islam's holy book placed in the temple, while Hasina has warned against any attempts to disturb communal harmony in the country. But Hindu organizations said the attacks continued in other parts of the country where dozens of Hindus were injured and their temple statues vandalized or toppled.
Since Wednesday, at least 100 people had been arrested across the country involving alleged attacks on Hindu temples, authorities said.
Around 9% of Bangladesh's more than 160 million people are Hindu.
Previously reported in the regional news
People Killed as Bangladesh Police, Mob Clash over Alleged Quran Desecration[BenarNews] At least four people were killed and dozens injured in southwest Bangladesh late Wednesday when law enforcement clashed with a mob protesting the alleged desecration of a Koran at a Hindu festival site, police said Thursday.
The
Mohammad Harun Rashid, officer-in-charge at the cop shoppe in Haziganj, a sub-district of Chandpur, confirmed the deaths but did not say whether the victims were killed by police shots.
"Three of the injured who suffered bullet wounds have died at a local health facility, while another died at Cumilla Medical College Hospital where he was sent for better treatment," he told BenarNews.
Cumilla Police Superintendent Faruk Ahmed confirmed that officers opened fire on the mob of several hundred people to control the situation.
"Police fired aimless shots and tear gas," he told BenarNews.
After the post about the Koran was widely circulated, enraged mobs attacked dozens of Hindu temples, including in Cumilla and Chandpur districts, police said.
Chandpur officials banned gatherings indefinitely, Momena Akhter, the chief of the Haziganj civil administration, told BenarNews.
Security was stepped around the country as well, as the violence spread. Officials deployed Border Guard Bangladesh troops in 30 of the nation’s 64 districts.
"Responding to the demand of district administrators and direction from the Home Ministry, the BGB personnel have been deployed to ensure security for Durga Puja celebrations," Lt. Col. Faizur Rahman said in a press statement released Thursday.
Meanwhile,
...back at the pie fight, Bella went down under the weight of the custard...
after visiting the shelter from where the Koran was recovered, police detained a Moslem man named Fayez Uddin who allegedly posted the video of Islam’s holy book in the puja structure on Facebook, a Chittagong Range Police official told news hounds.
"Police are interrogating the person. We suspect the incident was sabotage and we are now trying to determine why," said Md. Anwar Hossain, deputy inspector general in the Chittagong Range Police.
He added that 43 people were tossed into the calaboose by police for questioning.
Anwarul Azim, chief of Cumilla’s Kotwali Model Police Station, said four cases had been filed as of Thursday night, including one under the Digital Security Act. Hazigang police’s Harun Rashid said two cases accuse six named and 2,000 unnamed people of attacking the temple and clashing with police.
Police and authorities said at least 31 people were arrested in Gazipur, Sylhet and Cox’s Bazar districts for their alleged involvement in violence in those places.
Hindu leaders said a man guarding a puja structure in Hajiganj was found dead but they could not confirm the cause of death.
Hindu leaders, meanwhile, said their community feared for its safety following the violence and attacks on Hindu temples.
"Houses of Hindus came under attack in some areas," Manindra Kumar Nath of the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council told BenarNews.
Palash Kanti Dey, executive secretary-general of the Bangladesh Jatiya Hindu Mohajote, said vandals had hit at least 48 puja structures in 18 districts over the last two days. The Durga Puja festival began on Monday and ends Friday.
Islamic political party Islami Oikya Jote
... a political party in Bangladesh. In the 2001 elections the party won 2 out of 300 elected members in an alliance with the Bangladesh Nationalist Party. It has a focus on building an Islamic state, and has used the madrassas to gain support...
urged the police not to arrest those who protested and instead take action against those responsible for the alleged Koran desecration.
The opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), meanwhile, accused Hasina’s government of orchestrating the violence, saying it was a "planned attack" to divert people’s attention from its failure to maintain law and order.
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