DHAKA: In support of the Hizb ut-Tahrir terror group’s call to establish an “Islamic state and caliphate globally”, the banned outfit’s members took out a ‘March for Khilafat‘ in Dhaka following Friday prayers, leading to clashes with police. Batons and tear gas shells were used by security personnel to disperse thousands of demonstrators, with several being injured and detained or arrested during the violence near Bangladesh’s main Baitul Mokarram Mosque.
In HuT’s first open rally after the fall of the Sheikh Hasina govt last year, the demonstrators demanded introduction of the Sharia law in Bangladesh. The group – banned by both India and Bangladesh – has called for unification of all Muslim nations over time in a unitary Islamic state or caliphate, headed by a elected caliph. Ramna police division deputy commissioner Masud Alam said the law enforcement swiftly brought the situation under control.