Authorities in Bangladesh say Muslim rioters over the weekend torched at least a dozen Buddhist temples and some 50 homes, in Cox's Bazar district near the Burmese border (Chittagong division, see map [10]). Authorities said the attacks were prompted by a photo posted on Facebook that showed a local Buddhist trampling on a Koran. (Mizzima [11], Oct. 2; ANI [12], Sept. 30) After the rioting, more than 100 Buddhist monks protested at the Bangladeshi embassy in Rangoon, Burma, where a banner read "No Terrorist Muslim War on Religions." Hundreds of Buddhist monks also demonstrated in Colombo, Sri Lanka [13]. (AP [14], Oct. 5; VOA [15], Oct. 4)
Burma has recently seen communal violence in western Rakhine state involving Buddhists and the Muslim Rohingya [16] minority. Earlier this year, Buddhist monks destroyed a mosque [17] in Sri Lanka, calling its presence near a Buddhist sacred site a provocation. Eastern India's Assam [18] state, bordering Bangladesh (see map [19]), has seen conflict this year between Bangladeshi Muslim migrants and indigenous tribal peoples.
