Dhaka, Sept 10: Students and teachers from a Muslim school fought with members of an Islamic militant group who were distributing leaflets in their village, urging people to join an armed "jihad," or holy war, to make secular Bangladesh an Islamic state, police said today. Police used batons to stop the fighting and arrested 13 members of the Hizbul Tauhid militant group. About 45 people were wounded. Ten of them, including two police officers, were hospitalised, a police officer said on condition of anonymity.

The villagers were opposed to the Muslim activists because they believed that using violence to establish Islamic rule in Bangladesh contradicted Islamic teachings, the official said. The incident occurred yesterday in Poradah village in Kushtia district, 130 kilometres west of Dhaka, the Bangladesh capital.

Little is known about Hizbul Tauhid. Police confiscated handbills from the activists and were questioning them to try to learn more about their activities.

Even though most of Bangladesh's 140 million people are Muslims, Islamic militants have little public support here. The country is a parliamentary democracy governed by secular laws.
Bureau Report