Outrage in Bangladesh over murdered cleric

Members of two Bangladeshi Islamic groups have protested angrily and threatened the government with a nationwide strike after respected leader Maolana Nurul Islam Farooqi was hacked to death, allegedly by extremist Islamists on Wednesday.

Hundreds of supporters and student activists of Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat and the Bangladesh Islamic Front carried out demonstrations, blocked roads and vandalized vehicles in the capital Dhaka, the port city of Chittagong and southeastern Comilla district. Their leaders demanded the immediate arrest and punishment of the perpetrators and threatened a strike on Sunday.

Supporters of slain Islamic preacher and TV show host Maolana Nurul Islam Farooqi protest in Dhaka on Thursday (Photo: Shahadat Hosen)

“We demand immediate action from the government or we will wage tough street protests for justice for our slain leader,” ANM Masood Al QadriAhmed Noori, secretary general of Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat told protestors in front of the National Press Club on Thursday.

Farooqi, a popular Islamic preacher and host of two Islamic programs on private TV Channel I, was found slaughtered at his residence in the East Rajabazar area of central Dhaka on Wednesday.  Family members said the attackers held them hostage for hours during the killing. Farooqi held senior posts at Ahle Sunnat and Islamic Front, two moderate groups. He owned several businesses including an Islamic media house and a Hajj travel agency. Family members filed a murder case with local police on Wednesday against five members of Islami Chhatra Shibir, the student front of Jamaat-e-Islami, the country’s largest radical Islamic party.

Police held three people for questioning but have made no arrest yet. “We released three people after the initial interrogation and we are trying to track down the killers,” said investigating officer Biplab Kumar Sarkar. He added that there could be various motives behind the crime.

“He might have been killed for his religious ideology, over a family problem or business disputes. We are looking into all the possible clues.”

 

Rock Ronald Rozario, Dhaka
Source: ucanews.com (Aug. 29, 2014)