Bangladesh: third day of violent religious clashes between Hindus and Muslims

Protesters flee after throwing stones at police officers during a protest near a mosque in Dhaka on October 15, 2021, the third day of interfaith violence.

© Munir Uz zaman, AFP

Text by: RFI Follow

1 min

For the third day in a row, Bangladesh is beset by religious tensions between the Muslim majority and the Hindu minority, which have left at least 4 dead and 150 injured.

After acts of vandalism on places of worship which degenerated into clashes in Dhaka and Chittagong, in particular, thousands of faithful demonstrated this Friday, October 15 in the capital against what they see as an insult to Islam.

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At the origin of the violence is a video that has gone viral on social networks.

We see a copy of the Koran placed at the foot of a Hindu god.

Very quickly, the situation escalates.

On Wednesday October 13, as Hindus celebrate Durga Puja, their biggest religious holiday in Bangladesh, a crowd of at least 500 people ransack a Hindu temple in Hajiganj.

Faced with the incident, the police opened fire on the crowd, bringing the death toll to four.

It is the beginning of violent religious clashes accompanied by a series of degradation and acts of vandalism against places of Hindu worship.

In all, 80 temples will be attacked or burnt down in three days.

Prime Minister tries to reassure Hindu minority

Two days later, several thousand demonstrators demanded in the capital Dhaka an " 

 " for those responsible for the desecration of the sacred book of Islam.

Initially numbering 2,500, the demonstrators were a little later about 5,000, according to an AFP photographer.

At least five police officers were injured and three protesters arrested, he said.

The

met Thursday, October 14 community leaders and tried to reassure the Hindu minority, representing 10% of the 116 million Bangladeshis, promising to act fast.

“ 

 ” she warned, stressing that those responsible for the damage will be “ 

 ”.

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• Bangladesh

• Religion

• Islam