Four killed during Bangladesh unrest

At least four people were killed and nearly 50 injured on Sunday after police fired on thousands of Bangladeshi Muslims protesting against a Facebook post by a Hindu who allegedly defamed the Prophet Muhammad, officials said.

Mob attacks over Facebook posts perceived to be blasphemous have emerged as a major headache for security forces in Bangladesh, where Muslims make up about 90% of the country’s 160-million people.

About 20,000 Muslims demonstrated at a prayer ground in Borhanuddin town on the country’s largest island of Bhola to call for the execution of the young Hindu man, who was arrested on Saturday over charges of inciting religious tension.

Police said they opened fire in self-defence after about of the crowd threw rocks at their officers.

“At least four people were killed and up to 50 people were injured,” police inspector Salahuddin Mia said.

He said extra police and border guards were being deployed in the town.

The death toll is expected to rise, with Bhola Sadar Hospital duty doctor Tayebur Rahman saying at least seven of the 43 people taken to hospital were fighting for their lives.

“We have sent the critically injured people to the regional hospital in Barisal city. Their conditions are not stable,” he said.

In 2016, angry Muslims attacked Hindu temples in an eastern town over a Facebook post was put up allegedly mocking one of Islam’s holiest sites.

In 2012, Muslim mobs torched Buddhist monasteries, houses and shops in the coastal Cox’s Bazar district after a Buddhist youth’s alleged defamatory photo post of the Koran.

Bangladesh has also experienced attacks on people from religious minorities, secular bloggers, publishers, writers and foreigners, many claimed by Islamist militants.