Provocative Facebook post about Prophet Muhammad sparks protest in India

Not less than three people have died in southern India’s Bengaluru city following the clash between protesters and police.

The clash on Tuesday August 12, 2020, was as a result of the demonstration over the provocative social media post about the Prophet Muhammad.

The Facebook post, which Muslims regarded as being offensive, sparked a fierce protest in India’s tech hub.

A police station was attacked, and a politician’s house and vehicles were torched.

“The situation is under control,” Bengaluru City Police said on Twitter, adding that police fired live ammunition to disperse the crowd after using tear gas and batons.

“Despite elders of the community trying to pacify the crowd, the mob burnt vehicles on the road, they attacked the police station,” Police Commissioner Kamal Pant said.

“The police had no escape and they had to resort to firing and three people died,” Pant said, adding that 110 people had been arrested for alleged vandalism and attacking the police.

A police official said an emergency law prohibiting gatherings had been imposed in Bengaluru, a city of 12 million people best known as India’s Silicon Valley.