Bangladesh Islamic Groups Hold Massive Anti-France Rally
Tens of thousands Bangaldeshi Muslims took to the street in a mammoth rally against France and French President Emmanuel Macron in Dhaka on Monday.
The anti-France protest was organized by Hafazat-e-Islam and attended by its followers and students of Islamic seminaries who gathered in the Bangladeshi capital from across the country.
The protesters carried placards that used derogatory terms for the French President while some held his effigies garlanded by a string of footwear, a mark of disrespect in South Asia.
The protesters demanded a blanket ban on French products in the country and even severing of diplomatic ties with the European country.
They also demanded public condemnation of French Government by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina as well as closure of French consulate in Dhaka.
The main organizer is an body of Islamic believers who have demanded in the past the imposition of Sharia, Islamic law, in the country
In Islam, any depiction of the prophet is prohibited. The issue reemerged following the gruesome beheading near Paris of a French teacher who showed caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad in class. The 18-year-old Chechen refugee who carried out the attack was later shot dead by police.
Anti-French protests have since rocked various Muslim-dominated countries in the world, led by Pakistan and Turkey.
