Bangladesh holds ‘peace rally’ to denounce violence against minority Hindus
- The violence was caused by rumours of a blasphemous image and remarks about Islam in a Facebook post allegedly by a local Hindu man
- It comes amid communal tension in the country over the alleged desecration of a Koran at a Hindu festival last week
The ruling Awami League party of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina organised the “harmony procession and peace rally” a day after assailants carried out arson attacks on a remote village in the northern Rangpur district, leaving at least 20 Hindu homes burnt to ash.
The violence on Sunday night was caused by rumours of an offensive image and remarks about Islam in a Facebook post allegedly by a local Hindu man. It comes amid communal tension over the alleged desecration of a Koran at a Hindu festival last week.
“We will build united resistance against the troublemakers,” Obaidul Quader, general secretary of the ruling party, told a gathering in front of the party headquarters in central Dhaka of more than 8,000 people, according to the organisers.
The government will do everything possible to ensure the safety of Hindus, said Quader, also a senior cabinet minister, urging the minority community not to be fearful at the time of difficulty.
The activists then paraded through the city streets carrying banners and placards inscribed with calls for maintaining communal harmony. “Religion is for individuals, but Bangladesh is for all,” read one of the placards.
Similar processions were organised in other districts outside Dhaka to protest the communal riots that began last week over the alleged desecration of the Koran during the Hindu celebration of Durga Puja.
Muslims and Hindus protest in Bangladesh over perceived insult to Islam
The incident, which took place in the eastern town of Cumilla, involved the alleged placement of a Koran on the knee of a statue of the Hindu god Hanuman. Violent protests by Muslims in many parts of Bangladesh left at least six people dead.
Police headquarters said at least 450 people have been arrested in connection with the communal riots since Wednesday.
The Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council, a platform of religious minority groups, accused the government of having failed to ensure the Hindus’ safety.
“The ruling party has lost credibility of being a secular entity. Our confidence in the party is fading out,” said Manindra Kumar Nath, a central leader of the platform, referring to the week of violence on Hindu temples, festival sites and homesteads, and the looting of their valuables.
About 9 per cent of Bangladesh’s population of over 160 million is Hindu.
