1. Skip to content
  2. Skip to main menu
  3. Skip to more DW sites

Deadly protests in Bangladesh

May 6, 2013

In Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka, at least 20 people have been killed in clashes between police and thousands of Islamic activists. The protesters have demanded that the Muslim-majority nation enact an anti-blasphemy law.

https://p.dw.com/p/18SiC
Police try to detain an activist of Hefajat-e-Islam during a clash in front of the national mosque in Dhaka May 5, 2013. At least one person was killed, more than one hundred injured, including journalists, and thirteen vehicles torched as activists from Hefajat-e Islam and Islami Chhatra Shibir clashed with police at the city's Paltan area. According to local media, Hefajat activists demanded for the introduction of blasphemy laws and a 13-point agenda, while blocking major roads in Dhaka. REUTERS/Andrew Biraj (BANGLADESH - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST RELIGION)
Image: Reuters

At least 20 people were killed in clashes between police and protesters in the center of Dhaka on Monday, officials and police said.

Media reports said violence erupted after about 10,000 police and soldiers used tear gas and rubber bullets to evict a throng of protesters from a central commercial district in Dhaka late Sunday.

News agency AFP put the death toll across Bangladesh at 37, with at least seven killed in clashes outside of the capital.

The protesting Islamists were demanding that the government enact an anti-blasphemy law with provision for the death penalty. They have also vowed to shut down main business hub until their demands are met.

The government has rejected the groups' demands, saying that the country is governed by secular laws.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wazed has said the existing laws have sufficient safeguards to address the protesters' concerns.

Last Friday, he vowed that the government "will not allow any chaos in the name of Islam, a religion of peace."

hc, ccp/pfd (AP, AFP, dpa)