Bangladesh Nationwide Strike over Anti-Islam Film
Most schools, shops and offices were closed in Bangladesh on September 23 as opposition parties enforced a nationwide strike to protest against the mocking of the Prophet Muhammad in a U.S.-made film.
Thousands of police patrolled the capital Dhaka and roads were quiet across the country on what is normally a business day in the Muslim-majority country of 153 million people.
About 40 Islamic activists were briefly detained after they tried to barricade a main road and threw bricks at police, local Dhaka police chief Abul Kashem said.
Several Islamic parties which are allied with the main opposition party called the strike to protest over the Internet film about the Prophet Muhammad and caricatures of him printed by a French magazine.
Police said about 10,000 police and elite Rapid Action Battalion forces were deployed in Dhaka, including in the diplomatic area.
On September 22, hundreds of activists clashed with police as they rallied in defiance of a ban on protests in central Dhaka.
Police fired tear gas on protesters who pelted officers with stones and torched several police vehicles. Local media said more than 50 people were injured.
The Bangladesh government has condemned the Internet film and blocked video-sharing website YouTube in an effort to calm tensions.
On September 21, some 10,000 Bangladeshis took to the streets of Dhaka to demonstrate against the low-budget film outside the country’s largest mosque.
By Sadroddin Musawi
Other links:
France Bans Protests over Prophet Muhammad Cartoons
Italy FM: Prophet Cartoons Irresponsible Sensationalism
U.S. Judge Rejects Call to Ban Film on Net
Muslim Anti-Film Protest Hits London
