Bangladesh: Hindu temples vandalised, houses attacked by mob over Facebook post
At least 15 temples and hundreds of houses belonging to Hindus were vandalised in Bangladesh’s Chittagong on Sunday during a protest against an alleged Facebook post demeaning the most sacred mosque in the world, reports said.
At least 15 temples and hundreds of houses belonging to Hindus were vandalised in Bangladesh’s Chittagong on Sunday during a protest against an alleged Facebook post demeaning the most sacred mosque in the world, reports said.
According to The Daily Star, thousands of people, including activists of Hefajat-e-Islam and Ahle Sunnat, brought out separate rallies in Nasirnagar under Brahmanbaria district on Sunday demanding capital punishment for the man who posted a demeaning the Masjid al Haram in Mecca.
Brahmanbaria superintendent of police Mizanur Rahman told the newspaper that around 150 to 200 people launched the attacks and vandalised at least seven to eight idols inside five temples in the area.
Two people were injured in the attacks while six people were detained, he added.
Nasirnagar Puja Committee’s general secretary Khailpada Poddar, however, alleged that at least 15 Hindu temples were vandalised and looted. “Two hundred Hindu houses were ransacked and looted,” he told the newspaper.
The violence was contained by the police who took control over law and order in the area around 2:00pm, Rahman said. A raid was also conducted to nab the culprits.
A large number of security personnel from the police, Rapid Action Battalion, and paramilitary Border Guard Bangladesh have been deployed in the area, the report said.