Thousands of Muslims took a march from the main mosque in Bangladesh capital Dhaka on Friday to protest against the Indian government for the riots in Delhi which have left at least 42 dead and hundreds injured.
According to reports, following the Friday prayers, thousands of Muslims in Dhaka left the Baitul Mokarram Mosque, joined the rally and shouted slogans against Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Similar protests were also organised in other cities across Bangladesh on Friday.
The protesters went on to demand that Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina drop her plan to invite Prime Minister Modi to a commemoration next month on the 100th birth anniversary of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the first president of the nation who is called the father of Bangladesh. Rahman, Hasina’s father, led a political movement that created the separate nation of Bangladesh after a nine-month war between India and Pakistan in 1971.
The protesters claimed that invitation to PM Modi was an insult to the 1971 liberation war of Bangladesh and disrespect to the noncommunal freedom icon of the nation.
The march was organized by six Muslim political groups at the initiative of Jamiat Ulema-e Islam General Secretary Nur Hossain Qasmi. There was massive police deployment around the protest area. “I ask the prime minister to immediately cancel Narendra Modi’s invitation,” Nur Hossain Kasemi, general secretary of the influential Islamist group Hefazat-e-Islam said during the protests.
Kasemi added, “If she fails to do so, the people of the country will be forced to take action and surround the airport. They will build resistance.”
“I remind the Muslims of our country that we believe in harmony. We don’t believe in violence. We shall not harm any non-Muslims in this country,” he said as he asked Bangladeshi Muslims not to harm Hindus.
Reportedly, students of the Dhaka University also held a rally protesting the deaths in Delhi violence. The university’s students union leader Nurul Haq Nur said that students would not welcome Indian prime minister as the event speaker.
However, the general secretary of ruling Awami League party Obaidul Quader said that the government will receive PM Modi to participate in the event as a gesture of gratefulness to India, who helped Bangladesh during the liberation war. He further added that the communal clashes in the Indian capital Delhi were an “internal issue” of India.
The anti-CAA riots turned communal in Delhi resulting in severe violence on the streets of Delhi. The anti-Hindu riots that engulfed the streets of Delhi have resulted in deaths of around 40 persons and more than 220 people sustained injuries in the violence that started on Sunday.
The injured include around 70 persons from the security forces. 48 FIRs had been filed and 514 suspects had also been rounded up by the police. The cops have set up 2 SITs for investigating serious cases of offence that took place during the riots.