A 3,000-strong mob raided a Hindu temple and over two dozen residences after hearing that two local youths allegedly insulted the prophet Muhammad on Facebook. Several inhabitants of the pillaged residences reported their possessions and valuables were stolen.
Bangladesh Police responded by arresting 17 involved in the mob, including the leader of the Bagmara Madrasa (Islamic School) for inciting the attack. “We so far arrested 17 people, and some of them made confessional statements regarding the attack. A manhunt is underway to arrest the rest of the culprits,” said the area’s police chief. The police chief additionally noted the attack’s organizer was still at large and had not been successfully apprehended.
The local Police Chief, describing the attack said, “The attack continued for some 20 minutes but during the time, the culprits preferred not to injure anyone… our initial investigation found it was a pre-planned attack as they used loudspeakers and distributed leaflets to [mobilize] the attack.”
Jamaat-e-Islami, the largest Islamist party in Bangladesh and a Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated group, is suspected for inciting the mob. The group, which calls for an “Islamic state” that is fully compliant with the Quranic Shariah law, seeks to ban “un-Islamic” practices in Bangladesh.
In January 2014, one man was killed and hundreds of temples, houses, and businesses were destroyed following targeted attacks on Christians and Hindus in Bangladesh.
Islam is by far the most-practiced religion in Bangladesh, accounting for over 90% of the population. Hindus amount to just over 8%.
President Obama said at his United Nations General Assembly speech in 2012, two weeks following the Islamist bombardment of America’s embassy in Benghazi, Libya, “the future must not belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam.”
Many argue President Obama’s rhetoric rhetoric has by and large sanctioned further “Muslim outrage” as a legitimate reactionary tool to display grievances. “Shhhhhhh, we’re told. Don’t protest the Ground Zero mosque. Don’t burn a Koran. It’ll imperil the troops. It’ll inflame tensions. The ‘Muslim world’ will ‘explode’ if it does not get its way, warns sharia-peddling imam Feisal Abdul Rauf. Pardon my national security-threatening impudence, but when is the ‘Muslim world’ not ready to explode,” said conservative columnist Michelle Malkin in 2010.
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