Bangladesh: Massive protests held after two men burn several copies of Quran

Bangladesh was reeling under massive civil chaos overnight from Sunday to Monday (August 6-7) following the burning of the Quran by two men.

Police said Monday “at least 10,000” people took to the streets Sunday night as they tried to attack the two men accused of destroying the holy book.

Police officer Ajbahar Ali Shaikh was quoted by AFP as saying that at least 14 policemen were left injured as they tried to bring the situation under control.

Who are the accused?

Police have identified a school principal, named Nurur Rahman, and his aide, Mahbub Alam, as the culprits and detained them from the northeastern city of Sylhet. 

Sylhet is one of the most conservative parts of the Muslim-majority country.

Police also seized at least 45 copies of damaged Qurans from them.

The accused men claim that the destroyed Qurans were very old and had some printing mistakes.

According to Muslim scholars, disposing of the holy book is only permissible if done respectfully.

The accused were also beaten by crowd

Sylhet Metropolitan Police (SMP) Commissioner Md Elias Sharif was quoted as saying by the Dhaka Tribune that teachers, students and other residents of the area were particularly furious at the principal and the other man. 

Watch: Bangladesh: Thousands take to streets after dozens of Quran copies are burnt

“At one point, people attacked them. The chairman and the other man were heavily beaten. They were later rescued by the police,” he added.

The angry crowd also tried to block the Sylhet-Sunamganj highway but was dispersed by the police.

Locals vs police

After the police rescued the accused and detained them, the angry mob also tried to attack the police officers.

Police responded by firing sound grenades and blank rounds.

Police said the situation was brought under control by 2:00 am Monday.  

Recent tensions over Quran burning

In recent weeks, heightened tensions arose between Muslim nations and Sweden as well as Denmark due to a series of protests featuring acts of disrespect towards the holy Quran, including the burning of its pages.

Although both Sweden and Denmark denounced these acts of disrespect, they stood firm in their commitment to upholding freedom of speech and the right to assemble.

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Bangladesh, home to a population of 170 million, consists of around 90 per cent Muslims, with the remaining portion primarily comprised of Hindus and Christians.

Religion-related violence is a recurrent issue in this South Asian country, where minority groups often face attacks stemming from rumours of blasphemy and offensive posts concerning Islam circulating on social media.