If you ever see people of different faiths getting along, you can be sure that this is only happening in the West. Because of our tradition of secularism, faiths that are deeply incompatible with one another are able to live in relative peace. In countries where sectarianism rules, however, is a different story. Religious minorities are often victims of pogroms over perceived incidents of “blasphemy”. The latest news comes out of Bangladesh, where Christians and Hindus were attacked during a protest they organized wanting equal treatment. The response from the Muslim majority was violent and swift. Within minutes the groups were attacked in broad daylight.
The catalyst for this was a pogrom that occurred in mid December. a young man was accused of posting negative things about the Koran on social media, and word quickly spread around the community, who gathered weapons and began destroying the homes of religious minorities.
A young Hindu man, Akash Das, had allegedly posted an insulting comment about the Quran on Facebook. The comment quickly spread across social media, igniting protests and escalating tensions, particularly in the predominantly Muslim community of Dowarabazar, about 270km (168 miles) from the national capital Dhaka.
Religious representatives were quick to downplay the violence, claiming that randomly attacking innocent people is really no big deal:
…Meher Nigar Tanu, the top bureaucrat for the subdistrict in which Monglargaon falls, downplayed the scale of the violence, arguing that “only a few homes and shops had been slightly damaged”.
Don’t worry folks, it was just a run of the mill mob attack. Nothing to see here, folks! What a load of horseshit! It didn’t take much for people to turn to violence, and then pretend that it was just a silly misunderstanding. This is what happens when you allow religious assholes to have power: they abuse it, and then pretend that they have God on their side. It’s the kind of shit straight out of the Inquisition, and it’s happening on a constant basis in religious countries.
This did little to reassure these religious minorities, who went to the streets to protest how they are being treated. The response? Another Muslim mob formed, and began to attack peaceful protesters in the open. There are videos of the attacks circulating, and it’s not a pretty sight. It’s just yet another example of the religion of peace demonstrating the kind of tolerance that awaits anyone who dares to question them. If you aren’t disgusted and convinced that this faith is a bane on mankind, then I just have to ask: what would it take for you to see the light?