Bangladesh’s Southeastern Port City Witnesses Tension Over Comments On ISKCON

The tension boiled over a trader's Facebook post calling ISKCON a “terrorist group,” angering the Hindu community around the Hazari Gali area, sources said.

Dhaka: Army-led joint forces on Wednesday patrolled parts of Bangladesh’s southeastern port city of Chattogram, a day after clashes over a Facebook post by a Muslim grocer against the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) that left many injured.

Officials and witnesses said tension sparked over the Facebook post of a trader, Osman Ali, on Tuesday calling ISKCON a “terrorist group” angering the Hindu community in the neighbourhood at Hazari Gali area. The Hazari Gali is mainly inhabited by the Hindu community who run ornament shops and wholesale medicine outlets.

Witnesses said several people too were wounded as the army, paramilitary Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and policemen used batons during the brief overnight clash while shops and businesses were shut in the Hazarir Gali area where army troops were patrolling in their jeeps alongside police.

Lieutenant Colonel Ferdous Ahmed told a news briefing on Wednesday that the mob rallied in front of Ali’s shop, prompting the joint forces to reach the scene and take Ali and his brother to secure custody.

“But scores of unruly people threw acid used for jewellery works and broken glass bottles from adjacent or nearby buildings leaving five army soldiers and seven policemen wounded,” he said.

Ahmed said the joint forces detained 80 suspects and a process was underway to identify the culprits by reviewing local intelligence and CCTV footage for legal actions.

Another police officer said some Hindu community leaders called the joint forces to the scene to evade any major violence on Tuesday evening. “No violence occurred afresh but a tense situation prevails in the area on Wednesday,” a local journalist told PTI from the scene.