Muslim Council of Hong Kong appeals for calm after police water cannons spray blue dye at front of Kowloon Mosque
- Faith leaders plead with Hongkongers to ‘seek calmness over revenge’, saying the city’s biggest mosque was not police’s intended target
- Earlier, fears of reprisals against ethnic minority groups after a protest activist was attacked were not realised
The Muslim Council of Hong Kong has appealed for calm, saying the city’s biggest mosque was not police’s intended target when their water cannons sprayed its entrance with blue dye on Sunday.
A statement, posted on the council’s Facebook page late on Sunday, said it was satisfied the mosque was not a police target during a dispersal operation, adding: “[The incident] has undoubtedly stirred feelings among the Muslim and non-Muslim communities in Hong Kong but let us not make the situation worse.”
It added: “Let’s seek calmness over revenge, wisdom over emotions and unity over division.”
The message was later replaced with a shorter post, which read: “Honestly, we the Muslim community are truly thankful to all the heartwarming people of Hong Kong who came to clean the gates of Kowloon Mosque today after the blue spray incident.”
For several days leading up to the weekend, ethnic minority groups in Hong Kong were on edge, as fears grew of possible reprisals after a protest leader was attacked for a second time by men said to be of South Asian descent.