COX’S BAZAR, Bangladesh — Thousands of Bangladeshi Muslims angry over an alleged derogatory photo of the Koran on Facebook set fires in at least 10 Buddhist temples and 40 homes near the southern border with Myanmar, authorities said Sunday....
The Bangladeshi violence follows protests that erupted in Muslim countries over the past month after a low-budget film, ‘‘Innocence of Muslims,’’ produced by a US citizen denigrated the prophet Mohammed by portraying Islam’s holiest figure as a fraud, womanizer, and child molester.'
Related: Guardian: Anti-Islam Film Never Existed
Another intelligence agency provocation?
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Related: "Bangladesh’s High Court asked the government Wednesday to explain why local officials failed to provide security to minority Buddhists whose homes, temples, and businesses were attacked over a picture of a burned Koran posted on Facebook."
"Bangladesh police, protesters clash at rally against US film" Associated Press, September 23, 2012
DHAKA, Bangladesh — Scores of people were injured Saturday in clashes in Bangladesh’s capital between police and hundreds of demonstrators, as protests continued in the Muslim world against a film produced in the United States that denigrates Islam’s prophet Mohammed....
Police fired tear gas and used batons Saturday to disperse stone-throwing protesters from about a dozen Islamic groups. Protesters burned vehicles, including a police van, witnesses said.
Dozens of protesters were arrested at the demonstration and inside the nearby National Press Club, where participants took refuge, a Dhaka Metropolitan Police official said on condition of anonymity in line with police policy. Police and witnesses said scores of people were injured.
The clash erupted when authorities tried to halt the demonstration, police said. Authorities have banned all protests near the city’s main Baitul Mokarram mosque since Friday, when more than 2,000 people marched and burned an effigy of President Obama.
The protesters announced a nationwide general strike on Sunday to protest the police action....
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Time to put some water on the fires:
"23 saved, 50 missing in Bangladesh boat accident" Associated Press, November 08, 2012
TEKNAF, Bangladesh — Nearby fishing boats helped rescue 23 people after a boat crowded with illegal migrants capsized Wednesday off Bangladesh’s coast, but about 50 others remained missing, officials said.
About 70 illegal migrants, mostly Rohingya Muslims because of economic reasons or alleged persecution in Myanmar, were reportedly traveling on the boat to Malaysia when it sank in the Bay of Bengal....
In recent years, poor young people have made dangerous attempts to go abroad for work, often through human traffickers....
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"At mosque, 13 die of lightning strike
SYLHET — At least 13 devotees were killed by lightning outside a mosque in northeastern Bangladesh. Bayes Ahmed, local police chief, said 20 other people were injured by the lightning late Friday in Sylhet District. Ahmed said Saturday that some of those who were killed died at the scene, while others died on the way to the hospital (AP)."
Still couldn't put out the fire:
"BANGLADESH BLAZE -- A boy and his mother embraced Tuesday as a health department worker fumigated near the site of a deadly fire that broke out Sunday in a slum in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Thousands of dwellers continue to live on the remains of their homes. The fire killed at least 14 and burned 500 thatched houses (Boston Globe November 21 2012)."
"BANGLADESH BLAZE -- A boy and his mother embraced Tuesday as a health department worker fumigated near the site of a deadly fire that broke out Sunday in a slum in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Thousands of dwellers continue to live on the remains of their homes. The fire killed at least 14 and burned 500 thatched houses (Boston Globe November 21 2012)."
