Dhaka blames Rohingya refugees for temple attacks

Home minister describes violence as premeditated and deliberate.

DHAKA: Bangladesh has accused Muslim Rohingya refugees from Myanmar for attacks on Buddhist temples and homes in the southeast and said the violence was triggered by a photo posted on Facebook that insulted Islam.

Thousands of Muslims went on a rampage in Buddhist areas of Bangladesh near the border on Saturday, setting ablaze more than a dozen temples and monasteries and at least 50 homes. Property was looted, including statues of the Buddha.

“The attacks on temples and houses in Buddhist localities in Ramu and neighbouring areas in Cox’s Bazar (district) were perpetrated by radical Islamists,” Home Minister Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir told reporters in Dhaka. “Rohingyas and political opponents of the government were also involved in the attacks,” he added.

Alamgir described the attacks as a “premeditated and deliberate attempt” to disrupt communal harmony.

It was one of the worst sectarian attacks in Bangladesh, spreading fear throughout the Buddhist minority. Police said violence spread to the port of Chittagong, where at least two temples were vandalised. But police drove away the attackers and tightened security around Buddhist areas.

Police said they arrested nearly 170 people on suspicion of vandalism and an investigation was ordered into the violence.

Rohingyas were involved in a week of rioting with Buddhist Rakhines across the border in Myanmar last June and aid agencies say they bore the brunt of a government crackdown to halt the violence.

Rohingyas are not included in any census in multi-ethnic Myanmar and have no citizenship. Bangladesh does not accept them and pushed back out to sea refugees fleeing that unrest.

Police say the latest attacks were launched after Muslims found a Facebook photo of a burned Holy Quran, allegedly posted by a young Buddhist man who was taken into safe custody by police.  The Facebook account was closed.

Leaders of the Buddhist community, which makes up less than 1 percent of Bangladesh’s population of 150 million, accused unidentified activists of sowing discord.

“The situation has been under control since Sunday but we are adding forces to vulnerable areas to ensure the peace is kept,” said Serajul Haque Khan, top civil administrator of the Chittagong division.

Many Bangladeshi Muslims have taken part in protests in recent days against the now notorious anti-Islam film ‘Innocence of Muslims’.

A senior army officer, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, said around 1,000 troops had been deployed in Cox’s Bazar and 300 in the nearby village of Ramu, where a mob of 25,000 people ran riot on Saturday night.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 2^nd, 2012.