Bangladesh protest over anti-Islam film turns violent

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Bangladesh protest over anti-Islam film turns violent
(AFP) – 4 hours ago

AFP: Bangladesh protest over anti-Islam film turns violent

A protester looks out from a prison van after he's detained during the demonstration (AFP, Munir Uz Zaman)

DHAKA — Bangladesh authorities on Saturday said they fired tear gas to disperse hundreds of Islamist protesters who defied a ban on demonstrations against a US-made anti-Islam film and hurled stones at police.

The clash erupted after the protesters from an alliance of 12 Islamist parties tried to hold a rally in central Dhaka despite a 24-hour ban on gatherings in the area, police said.

Hundreds of protesters attacked policemen, torched a motorbike and damaged a police van, forcing police "to fire tear gas shells to disperse them", Dhaka police spokesman Masudur Rahman told AFP.

"They defied our ban and tried to stage a protest against the anti-Islam film. At one stage, they started pelting stones at policemen," he said, adding that police arrested several people including some leaders of the group.

The online edition of the country's top-circulated Daily Star said at least 30 people were injured in the clash and that police arrested 40 protesters.

Police could not be immediately reached to confirm the report.

Rahman added that the alliance which staged the protest has called a nationwide strike on Sunday against the film mocking the Prophet Mohammed that has triggered violent demonstrations across the Muslim world.

Some 90 percent of Bangladesh's 153 million people are Muslims. The impoverished South Asian nation is home to the world's fourth-largest Muslim population.

Protests in Bangladesh against the film, Innocence of Muslims, and French cartoons caricaturing the prophet published earlier in the week had until the latest demonstration been peaceful.

On Friday, some 10,000 Bangladeshis took to the streets of Dhaka to demonstrate against the film outside the country's largest mosque. A protest of similar size was held the previous Friday.

The Bangladesh government has denounced the film and blocked YouTube, where the film has been posted, so that the video cannot be viewed in the country.

 

[BanglaBhoot]

Scores Injured in Bangladesh as Protests Against Video Continue in Muslim World

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Scores of people were injured Saturday in a clash in Bangladesh’s capital between the police and hundreds of demonstrators, as protests continued in the Muslim world against a film produced in the United States that denigrates the Prophet Muhammad.

In Pakistan, where more than 20 people died Friday in clashes with the police in cities throughout the country, a cabinet minister offered a $100,000 reward for the death of the filmmaker.

The railways minister, Ghulam Ahmad Balor, said that he would pay the reward out of his own pocket. He urged the Taliban and Al Qaeda to perform the “sacred duty” of helping find and kill the filmmaker.

The film has set off violent protests throughout the Muslim world that have resulted in the deaths of dozens of people, including the American ambassador to Libya.

In Bangladesh, the police fired tear gas and used batons on Saturday to disperse stone-throwing protesters, who were from about a dozen Islamic groups.

The protesters burned several vehicles, including a police van, witnesses said.

Dozens of protesters were arrested at the demonstration and inside the nearby National Press Club, where some had taken refuge, a Dhaka Metropolitan Police official said on the condition of anonymity, in line with police policy.

The police and witnesses said scores of people were injured.

The clash erupted when the authorities tried to halt the demonstration, the police said. Officials have banned all protests near the city’s main Baitul Mokarram mosque since Friday, when more than 2,000 people marched and burned an effigy of President Obama.

The protesters announced a nationwide general strike for Sunday to protest the police action.

In Pakistan, protests continued Saturday, with more than 1,500 people, including women and children, rallying in Islamabad, the capital. The crowd was peaceful but angry over the release of the video, “Innocence of Muslims,” which portrays the Prophet Muhammad as a fraud, a womanizer and a child molester.

The protesters — from the Minhaj-ul-Quran religious group — marched through Islamabad’s streets and then gathered near Parliament, chanting slogans against the filmmaker and demanding stern punishment.

Thousands of people also protested Saturday in Kano, Nigeria. The crowd marched from a mosque to the palace of the Emir of Kano, the region’s top spiritual leader for Muslims.

About 200 students in Srinagar, the main city in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir, chanted, “Down with America” and “Long live Islam” in a peaceful protest.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/23/w...inst-video-continue-in-muslim-world.html?_r=0

 

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http://www.defence.pk/forums/bangla...otest-over-anti-islam-film-turns-violent.html

 

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Anti-Islam film protests rent Dhaka air


Anti-Islam film protests rent Dhaka air | Bangladesh | bdnews24.com

Fri, Sep 28th, 2012 5:59 pm BdST

Dhaka, Sep 28 (bdnews24.com) — Various Islamist outfits brought out processions in Paltan, Baitul Mukarram National Mosque, Kuril-Biswa Road intersection, Progoti Sarani and Mohakhali areas in the city after the Jumma prayers on Friday protesting the anti-Islam US film that mocks Islam and ridicules Prophet Hazrat Mohammad (PBUH).

The activists of the Islami Oikya Jote and the Islami Andolan Bangladesh brought out two separate procession from the North Gate of the Baitul Mukarram National Mosque after the Jumma prayers protesting the release of the film, 'Innocence of Muslims', that triggered violent protests across the Middle East and some other countries.

The procession of the Islami Andolan Bangladesh led by its chief Mohammad Rezaul Karim marched through the National Press Club and terminated in front of Paltan Police Box.

Some Shia Muslims also brought out a procession in Paltan area.

Sub-Inspector of the Shahbagh Police Station Mohammad Wahiduzzaman said that no violent incident took place.

The activists of these parties, emerging from the mosques adjacent to Jamuna Future Park in Gulshan, started marching in processions through the main streets after saying their Jumma prayers.

As the police obstructed them, they took position at Progoti Sarani and held a rally there amid police barricades, Officer in Charge of the Bhatara Police Station Ziauzzaman told bdnews24.com.

"An agitation-like situation was created due to the procession, and traffic movement had to be halted for a while as the road was blocked partially," he said and added that the police brought the situation under control.

Sub-Inspector (Investigation) Mainul Islam of the Banani Police Station said that leaders and activists of some other Islamic parties brought out another procession from Gulshan and held a rally at Amtoli intersection in Mohakhali, but it did not hamper traffic movement.

Various Islamist organisations have demonstrated after the Jumma prayers over the last few weeks protesting the release of the anti-Islam film.

Twelve like-minded Islamist parties called a countrywide daylong general strike on Sep 23 following clashes with the police near the National Press Club on Sep 22.

The clashes had erupted when activists of those parties tried to bring out a procession, violating a ban on demonstrations there, to protest the screening of the film and publication of a cartoon demeaning Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH) abroad.

Both Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and opposition BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia have already urged the US government to take steps against the Director of the controversial film.

bdnews24.com/lh/kt/hah/jk/skb/nir/1731h