Bismillah
Thousands of rioters torched Buddhist temples and homes in southeastern
Bangladesh Sunday over a photo posted on Facebook deemed offensive to
Islam, in a rare attack against the community
Officials said the mob comprising some 25,000 people set fire to at
least five Buddhist temples and dozens of homes in Ramu town and its
adjoining villages, some 350 kilometers (216 miles) from the capital
Dhaka.
The rioters claimed the photo allegedly defaming the Koran was
uploaded on Facebook by a Buddhist man from the area, district
administrator Joinul Bari said.
"They became unruly and attacked Buddhist houses, torching and
damaging their temples from midnight to Sunday morning," he told AFP.
"At least 100 houses were damaged. We called in army and border
guards to quell the violence," he said, adding that authorities had
temporarily banned public gatherings in the area to prevent further
clashes.
It was not immediately clear if there were any casualties, and authorities did not say if any of the rioters were arrested.
The country's home minister, industries minister and national police chief rushed to the scene Sunday morning.
Police officer Rumia Khatun said about "25,000 Muslims chanting God
is Great" first attacked a Buddhist hamlet in Ramu, torching
centuries-old temples, and later stormed Buddhist villages outside the
town.
Witnesses said the rioters left a trail of devastation at the Buddhist villages.
"I have seen 11 wooden temples, two of them 300 years old, torched by
the mob. They looted precious items and buddha statues from the
temples. Shops owned by Buddhists were also looted," said Sunil Barua, a
local journalist on the scene.
Barua, himself a Buddhist, said 15 Buddhist villages were attacked
and more than 100 houses were looted and damaged. "The villages look
like as if they were hit by a major cyclone," he told AFP by phone.
Communist Buddhists, who make up less than one percent of Bangladesh's 153
million population, are based mainly in southeastern districts, close
to the border with Buddhist-majority Myanmar.
Sectarian tensions have been running high since June when deadly
clashes erupted between Buddhists and Muslim Rohingya in Myanmar's
western Rakhine state.
Although Bangladesh, where nearly 90 percent people are Muslims, has
witnessed deadly clashes between Muslims and Hindus in the past,
sectarian clashes involving Buddhists are rare.
In recent weeks tens of thousands of Muslims have hit the street
across the country to protest a U.S.-made anti-Islam mocking the
Prophet Mohammed.
May Allah give us the victory.
