Bangladesh police under fire for killing 4 protesters
Bangladeshi police have come in the crosshairs of thousands of protesters, a day after at least four people were killed when police fired on crowds angry with a Facebook post offensive to Muslims.
The deaths sparked a new round of protests on Monday.
In the capital Dhaka as well as several other cities, Muslims called for the trial of the officers involved.
“This is not acceptable. Police have illegally and unconstitutionally opened fire on the protesters,” Mahmudul Hasan, a protester, said at a rally in Dhaka. “It is an extrajudicial killing. We seek justice.”
Sarkar Mohammad Kaisar, the superintendent of police, said security forces fired “blank shots” in self-defense after some of the protesters threw rocks at officers. He also said about a dozen policemen were among the injured.
On the country's largest island of Bhola, about 20,000 Muslims demonstrated for the execution of a young Hindu man charged with inciting religious tension through online messages.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who has called for calm, has said the Facebook account of the man had been hacked and used to “spread lies.”
“We saw rumors are being spread in Facebook to create an environment of anarchy. Who are they? What is their intention?" Hasina said in a speech to her political party members. “I asked our countrymen to have patience. And those who want to fish in troubled waters, we will find them and take action against them.”
Following a complaint by the Facebook account holder, police detained three people for allegedly hacking the account.
Mob attacks over online posts perceived to be blasphemous often make trouble for security forces in Bangladesh.
This is not the first time alleged Facebook posts have sparked large-scale religious violence.
In 2016, Muslim-Hindu clashes broke out in an eastern town over a similar post that allegedly mocked one of Islam's holiest sites.
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