Muslim rage escalates over Mocat cartoon – more stuff gets burned and killings are called for

ANGRY Muslims in Dhaka have called for the killing of a Bangladeshi editor and a cartoonist.

Earlier this week, a large number of police were deployed near the Baitul Mokarram mosque and outside the office of Prothom Alo when hundreds of Muslims took to the street, demanding “death to the editor” and “hang the cartoonist.” And, predictably, they set fire to copies of Prothom Alo, which has been ordered to suspend publication.

A government statement on Thursday said:

The magazine in its 431st issue has hurt the sentiments of devoted Muslims.

It also gave the publishers of Prothom Alo two weeks to explain “Why, in this circumstance, the magazine … shall not be banned and legal action not be taken against the publishers.

Meanwhile, Prothom Alo has been asked to suspend the publication of the magazine until the matter is resolved,” the statement said.

What ignited this latest explosion of Muslim rage was a cartoon by Arifur Rahman in which a small boy referred to his cat as “Mohammad cat”. The protesters said it was a deliberate attempt by the Rahman to ridicule the prophet.

Rahman was arrested by police and is now languishing in jail. It is not clear what charges the police intend bringing against him, but a government official said the cartoon could be part of a deliberate design to provoke violence and disrupt the peace.
Meanwhile the editor of Prothom Alo, along with editors of several other leading dailies, have appealed for forgiveness over it.

Rahman has had no chance to explain to the public what he exactly wanted to say through his cartoon.

On Friday the government also confiscated a special issue of another Bengali weekly, Saptahik 2000, citing contents that might hurt Muslim religious feelings, the home ministry said on Friday. It did not elaborate.

You can see the full report here.