Bangladeshi Mosque in Michigan Vandalized
Bangla Patrika in Voices That Must Be Heard, News Report, Abu Taher Translated from Bangla by Moinuddin Naser, Posted: Mar 23, 2006
NEW YORK – Several unidentified teenagers reportedly vandalized a mosque in Hamtramck, Michigan last week. Many consider this as another racial bias act against Muslims.
According to a report, local Bangladeshis in Hamtramck alleged that several teenagers threw bricks and shoes at the mosque.
Abdul Mutallib, an Islamic devotee who goes to the mosque often, said that a group of 15- and 16-year-old teenagers threw their shoes at the mosque, and mocked fellow devotees who visited the mosque.
Don Clini, an FBI official, told Bangla Patrika that several officials have been entrusted with the responsibility of continuing the investigation and discussing the incident with Bangladeshi devotees and local police.
There are about 600,000 Muslims who live in Michigan. Of that figure, about 500,000 Muslims live in Dearborn City, Michigan. Many are from Iraq and other Arab states.
Bangladeshi Muslims said that aside from the mocking, some people in the locality also started harassing the devotees of the mosque. A few days before the vandalism incident, a Bangladeshi imam was attacked.
The Michigan Department of Civil Rights expressed its concern, saying that anyone responsible for racial attacks will face the law.
Director of Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) Doud Walid condemned the incident and demanded a thorough investigation to punish those responsible for the crime.
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