Officials said the 25,000-strong mob set fire to at least five Buddhist temples and dozens of homes in Ramu town and its adjoining villages, some 350 kilometres from the capital, Dhaka.
The rioters claimed the photo, allegedly defaming the faith, was uploaded on Facebook by a young Buddhist man from the area, district administrator Joinul Bari said.
“They became unruly and attacked Buddhist houses, torching and damaging their temples from midnight to Sunday morning,” he told AFP.
“At least 100 houses were damaged. We called in army and border guards to quell the violence,” he said, adding that authorities had temporarily banned public gatherings in the area to prevent further clashes.
The man who sparked the riots and has gone into hiding, told local media he did not post the picture, insisting someone else had “tagged” his account with the image on the social network.
His mother and an aunt were given police protection after the violence broke out, officials said.
Riots begin
Police officer Rumia Khatun said about 25,000 Muslims first attacked a Buddhist hamlet in Ramu, torching centuries-old temples, and later stormed Buddhist villages outside the town.
It was not immediately clear if there were any casualties, and authorities did not say if any of the rioters were arrested.
Witnesses described rioters leaving a trail of devastation at the Buddhist villages.
“I have seen 11 wooden temples, two of them 300 years old, torched by the mob. They looted precious items and Buddha statues from the temples. Shops owned by Buddhists were also looted,” said Sunil Barua, a local journalist on the scene.
Violence spreads
The riots later spread to Patia, home to a sizable Buddhist population, outside Chittagong, where mobs attacked and vandalised three temples, local police chief Aminur Rashid said.
“They damaged statues and looted valuable items. We brought the situation under control,” he said, adding security has been tightened in all Buddhist villages and temples in the area. Members of the Buddhist minority in the Cox’s Bazar area in the southeast of the country said unidentified people were bent on upsetting peaceful relations between Muslims and Buddhists.
“We brought the situation under control before dawn and imposed restrictions on public gatherings,” said Salim Mohammad Jahangir, Cox’s Bazaar district police superintendent.
Sohel Sarwar Kajal, the Muslim head of the council in the area where the arson took place, said he was trying to restore communal peace.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 1st, 2012.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ