Religious violence erupts after photo widely circulated on social media shows the Quran placed on the knee of a Hindu deity
\n Dhaka
\nPolice in Bangladesh have detained at least 300 suspects after two Hindu men were killed and temples vandalised following unrest triggered by the alleged desecration of the Muslim holy book during a Hindu religious festival last week.
\nViolence erupted across Bangladesh after a photo was widely circulated on social media on Wednesday, showing the Quran placed on the knee of a Hindu deity during celebrations for the Durga Puja festival in the eastern district of Cumilla.
\nAngry mobs attacked Hindu temples and clashed with police in various parts of Bangladesh in the following days, leaving at least six people, including two Hindus, dead and more than 100 injured.
\nPolice said more than 200 attackers beat and stabbed to death an executive member of the temple committee in the southern town of Begumganj where members of the Hindu community were preparing to perform the last rites of the 10-day Durga Puja festival.
\nSix killed in violence so far
\nOn Saturday morning, another Hindu man\u2019s body was found near a pond next to the temple, district police chief Shahidul Islam told AFP news agency.
\n\u201cTwo men have died since yesterday\u2019s attack. We are working to find the culprits,\u201d he added.
\nThe Hindu community makes up about 10 percent of Bangladesh\u2019s 165 million population.
\nAt least four others were killed late on Wednesday when police opened fire on a crowd of about 500 people attacking a Hindu temple in Hajiganj, one of several towns hit by the disturbances.
\nViolence also broke out in the capital Dhaka and the port city of Chittagong, prompting police to fire tear gas and rubber bullets at thousands of brick-throwing Muslim protesters.
\nHigh-speed mobile phone internet services were shut down in an apparent bid to prevent the violence from spreading.
\nBangladeshi media reports on Sunday said at least 20 homes belonging to Hindus were torched in Rangpur city\u2019s Pirganj neighbourhood.
\nTension in the area mounted following allegations that a Hindu man\u2019s Facebook post dishonoured Islam, the bdnews website quoted a police official as saying.
\nThe incident came a day after some 10,000 protesters \u2013 many of them carrying banners of Islamist political parties \u2013 took to the streets outside Dhaka\u2019s main mosque.
\nThe crowd chanted \u201cDown with the enemies of the Islam\u201d and \u201cHang the culprits\u201d.
\nThousands of Muslims participated in a protest over an alleged insult to Islam outside the country\u2019s main Baitul Mukarram mosque in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on Saturday, October 16, 2021 [Abdul Goni\/AP]
\n\u201cWe ask the government to arrest those who defamed the Quran by putting it at the feet of an idol in Cumilla,\u201d Mosaddek Billah al-Madani, president of Bangladesh\u2019s Islami Movement. He added that protesters demanded \u201cthe death sentence\u201d for those responsible for the images.
\nSeparately, in a nearby intersection, about 1,000 Hindus protested against the attacks on temples and the killing of two Hindu devotees in another district where several temples were vandalised by Muslim mobs.
\nAt least 150 Hindus were injured across the country, community leader Gobinda Chandra Pramanik told AFP news agency, and at least 80 makeshift temples had been attacked.
\nThe authorities, who did not confirm the figures, said they have deployed extra security including a paramilitary border guard to control any further unrest.
\nBangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina met leaders of the Hindu community on Thursday and promised stern action.
\n\u201cSo far around 90 people have been arrested. We will also hunt down all the masterminds,\u201d Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan said.
\nIn the port city of Chittagong, the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council has announced a sit-in and hunger strike from October 23 in protest against the attacks on Hindus, the Press Trust of India agency reported on Sunday.
\nThe protest events will take place at Dhaka\u2019s Shahbagh and Chittagong\u2019s Andarkilla, said a spokesman of the forum, which observed a six-hour strike in Chittagong on Saturday before making the announcement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Religious violence erupts after photo widely circulated on social media shows the Quran placed on the knee of a Hindu deity Dhaka Police in Bangladesh have detained at least 300 suspects after two Hindu men were killed and temples vandalised following unrest triggered by the alleged desecration of the Muslim holy book during a Hindu […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-222438","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n