Police in Bangladesh use batons and tear gas to disperse rally by banned Islamist group
DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Police used batons and stun grenades on Friday to disperse thousands of members of the banned Hizbut Tahrir group as they marched near Bangladesh's main Baitul Mokarram Mosque in the country's capital.
Police said that many people were injured and several protesters were arrested during the violence which came after weekly prayers.
Masud Alam, a deputy commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, said that attempts were made to disperse the rally after marchers broke away from the police barricade. Witnesses said that scores of people were injured.
The clashes happened as between 3,000 and 5,000 protesters joined the procession, chanting slogans such as 'Freedom has one path, Khilafat, Khilafat,' or caliphate, and 'Naraye Taqbir, Allahu akbar,' meaning 'Cry, God is the greatest.'
The Islamist group had mounted a social media campaign in recent days and distributed leaflets and used posters across Dhaka urging people to join the procession, dubbed 'March for Khilafat.'
Hizbut Tahrir says it wants unification of all Muslim countries over time in a unitary Islamic state or caliphate, headed by a caliph elected by Muslims. Its supporters believe this is an obligation decreed by Allah, warning that Allah will punish those Muslims who would overlook this duty. It also wants the introduction of Sharia law.
The group was banned in 2009 as a 'threat to public security' by the government of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina under an anti-terrorism law.
Hasina was forced to flee last August after weeks of protests over a quota system for allocating government jobs turned into a broader challenge to her 15-year rule and an interim government was established under Nobel Peace laureate Muhammad Yunus. Hasina has been in exile in India since her ouster.
Bangladesh, a nation of about 170 million people, is largely Muslim-majority and is governed by mostly secular laws based on British common law. But many Islamist groups and hard-line political parties want to establish tough Sharia law in the country, which has experienced extremist attacks in the past.
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