Dhaka, June 16: Activists of an Islamic party in Bangladesh on Thursday took to the streets in the national capital, demanding that a resolution be passed in Parliament condemning the controversial remarks made by two former BJP spokespersons against Prophet Muhammad and the Indian envoy be summoned by the foreign office to lodge an official protest.
The supporters of Islami Andolon staged the demonstration in front of the downtown Baitul Mokarram Mosque and then headed towards the Indian High Commission in Dhaka, several kilometres away from the spot, defying rains. However, the riot police blocked the protesters at Shantinagar area.
Police, however, allowed a delegation of five representatives of the outfit to present a memorandum to deputy police commissioner’s office at Dhaka’s diplomatic enclave in Baridhara area where the Indian High Commission is located.
“We received the memorandum and handed it over to the Indian High Commission,” Deputy Police Commissioner Mohammad Asaduzzaman told reporters.
The protesters also demanded that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina should publicly condemn the controversial remarks and that the Indian authorities should arrest the two now-suspended BJP leaders.
Earlier this week, Information and Broadcasting Minister Hasan Mahmud had said that the controversy triggered by remarks made by two former BJP functionaries against Prophet Muhammad is India’s “internal issue” and it is not an attention-grabbing matter in Bangladesh unlike in some other Muslim nations.
Talking to a group of visiting Indian journalists here, Mahmud said, “It is not an internal matter (of Bangladesh), but an external issue. This is India’s internal issue. Whenever something like this happens in the world, some Islamic parties protest here too and it usually happens.” Here in Bangladesh, it is not much an attention-grabbing issue as it is for Arab countries, Pakistan and Malaysia, he said.
“If anything is said against Prophet Mohammad anywhere, it should be condemned. We congratulate the Indian government for taking legal action against those who commented on the Prophet,” Mahmud said.
The ruling BJP has already suspended its national spokesperson Nupur Sharma and expelled the party’s Delhi unit media head Naveen Jindal for their controversial remarks. India has said that the remarks do not reflect the views of the government.
Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said India accords the “highest respect” to all religions. (PTI)
