Bangladeshis protest against killing of Rohingya

Hundreds of Bangladeshis have taken to the streets in the capital, Dhaka, in protest against the killing of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar.

Poets were also among the participants in the protest on Friday. "Poetry for Rohingyas/Poetry for Humanity," read one of the banners held by the demonstrators, who also urged the Nobel Committee to strip Myanmar’s State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi of her title as the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.

"I call upon the authorities to strip Suu Kyi of her Nobel Prize in support of the killed and the repressed people of Myanmar who are fleeing the country to save themselves," said poet Amir Kashru.

A similar demonstration was also held in the Bangladeshi capital on Thursday.

The United Nations has warned that ongoing, widespread human rights violations against the Rohingya in Myanmar’s western state of Rakhine could be tantamount to “crimes against humanity.”

Myanmar's military has launched a crackdown on the Rohingya in Rakhine, where they are concentrated, since an attack on the country’s border guards on October 9 left nine police officers dead. The government blamed the Rohingya Muslims for the assault.

There have been numerous accounts by eyewitnesses of summary executions, rapes and arson attacks against the Rohingya by security forces.

At least 30,000 Rohingya have been internally displaced in Rakhine, while thousands of others have tried to reach Bangladesh over the past month to seek refuge among the Rohingya refugee people that already live there.

Photos of the massacre of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar and placards reading, "Stop Muslim killing in Burma/stop killing in Burma," were also displayed during the protest in Dhaka.

Ahmed Abdul Kyumam, a member of Islami Andolon Bangladesh (Islamist political organization in Bangladesh), warned, "If they don't stop killing immediately, there will not be any embassy of Myanmar in Bangladesh."

"Dear brothers if they don't do it, we, the supporters of 'Islami Andolon Bangladesh' under the leadership of our leader, will march towards Myanmar's border to support our Muslim brothers in Myanmar on December 18," he said during the protest.

According to the UN, the Rohingya are one of the most persecuted minorities in the world.

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