Dhaka: Security checks outside churches
The police of Dhaka fear retaliation against the Christian community by Muslim extremists after attacks on mosques in Great Britain.
Dhaka (AsiaNews) The 7 July blasts in London and consequent attacks on mosques in Great Britain have prompted police in Dhaka to discuss serious security measures with church leaders of Bangladesh in a bid to protect the country's sacred buildings from possible retaliation.
Christian clergy and lay leaders met Metropolitan Police Commissioner S.A. Mizanur Rahman this week (on 18 July) to discuss the matter.
The Dhaka police voiced concern after attacks on several mosques in Great Britain followed the terrorist attacks on 7 July in the English capital which killed 56 people.
According to the international media, at least four mosques (in Leeds, Belvedere, Telford and Birkenhead) were attacked but no damage was caused.
Participants at the Dhaka meeting included Father Proshanto Rebeiro, representing Dhaka archdiocese; Michael Shaha, vice president of the National Council of Churches in Bangladesh; and members of the Bangladesh Christian Association (BCA) including its secretary general, Nirmal Rozario.
Rosario said: "The archdiocesan cathedral in Dhaka has year-round, 24-hour protection by armed forces from the government's security sector, but other churches in Dhaka city may need security at this time."
Police asked Christian representatives for a list of religious buildings and Christian organizations facing potential danger. In Dhaka, there are seven Catholic churches and some Protestant ones.
Rozario proposed that such measures be extended on a national scale. Police are considering the request. In Bangladesh, 88% of the population is Muslim and a wave of Islamic fundamentalism is growing. Human rights organizations like Human Rights Watch and sources of AsiaNews recently denounced government complicity in violence against religious minorities: the government is charged with not punishing perpetrators and with succumbing to pressure from extremists on fronts like education.
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