14 injured in Bangladesh after protests over Quran burning
At least 14 police personnel sustained injuries as thousands of people took to the streets in protest against the burning of dozens of Quran in Bangladesh.
The chair of the Dhanupara Ideal College along with another person were arrested on Monday from the north-eastern city of Sylhet for allegedly burning the holy books.
Chair Nurur Rahman and Mahbub Alam reportedly burned the Qurans as they were "very old and some had printing mistakes". Local police said they have seized at least 45 copies of the burned Quran.
Protests broke out overnight from Sunday to Monday, where the police said they resorted to firing rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse a crowd of “at least 10,000 people”, according to AFP.
The livid mob reportedly attacked the two men suspected of destroying the books. “At one point, people attacked them. The chair and the other man were heavily beaten. They were later rescued by the police,” the Dhaka Tribune quoted an official as saying.
Another police officer said at least 14 policemen were injured in the clashes, but did not have details of injuries among protesters.
The protesters then tried to block the Sylhet-Sunamganj highway, but the situation was eventually brought under control after 2am.
The incident comes at a time when the Muslim-majority South Asian nation has opposed public desecrations of the Quran in Sweden and Denmark.
Both countries have condemned the desecrations but upheld their laws regarding freedom of speech and assembly. Swedish prime minister Ulf Kristersson previously said the protest was “legal but not appropriate” and said it was up to the police to permit it or not.
Dhaka had also summoned Jakob Etaat, the Chargé d’Affaires at the Swedish Embassy, to protest the burning of a copy of the Quran outside a mosque in Stockholm.
Earlier in July, a group of 57 Islamic countries called for collective measures to prevent acts of desecration of the Quran, and sought an international law to bring an end to religious hatred.
