5,000 Muslims protest against cartoons in Dhaka

More than 5,000 Muslims paraded in Bangladesh’s capital today to protest against the publication of drawings of Prophet Mohammed.

The demonstrators burned at least four Danish flags during the protest outside Dhaka’s main Baitul Mukarram mosque.

They poured into the streets after noon prayers, many of them shouting: “Death to those who degrade our beloved prophet!” They carried banners reading “Hang Culprits!” and “Expel EU (European Union) ambassadors from Muslim countries.”

Several hundred riot police stood guard as the protesters marched through streets. Police intercepted the protesters when they tried to march toward the Danish Embassy. No violence was immediately reported.

Most of the protesters were from Hizbut Tahrir Bangladesh, a hard-line Islamic group, while many devotees just stood on sideways.

The protest occurred far from the Danish Embassy, where authorities deployed extra security forces to prevent any violence.

The drawings, first published in September in Denmark’s Jyllands-Posten newspaper and later republished by a handful of other papers in Europe and elsewhere, have triggered fury across the Muslim world, with demonstrations and boycotts of Danish products.

“We have to fight against such an anti-Muslim campaign,” Mohiuddin Ahmed, a leader of the Hizbut Tahrir Bangladesh, told supporters amid cheers.

Yesterday, Bangladesh Prime Minister Khaleda Zia strongly condemned the publication of the cartoons, calling it audacity of the highest order.

“It is our belief that through publishing cartoons of the prophet ... freedom and responsibility have been violated,” Zia said in a statement.

However, she said her government did not support any attempt to destroy peace, harmony and stability in protesting the caricatures.

Islam is interpreted to forbid any illustrations of the prophet. The cartoons included an image of Mohammed wearing a bomb-shaped turban with a burning fuse.

Elsewhere, thousands of Muslims kicked and tore Danish red-and-white flags and burned effigies on the steps of India’s largest mosque in New Delhi after Friday prayers.

“Denmark, come back to senses,” read banners carried by the protesters who staged a protest march after the prayers.