Dhaka: Thousands of minority Hindus protested against attacks and harassment on Friday and rallied to demand protection from the interim government and drop sedition cases against Hindu community leaders. The protest was held in Chattogram after sedition charges were filed against 19 Hindu leaders on Wednesday.

Another Hindu rally is planned in Dhaka on Saturday. About 30,000 Hindus demonstrated at a major intersection in the southeastern city of Chattogram. Protests also took place elsewhere in the country. The country's influential minority group Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council has said that there have been more than 2,000 attacks on Hindus since August 4.

Protesters set fire to the office of an ally of Sheikh Hasina's party

The central office of the Jatiya Party, an ally of ousted Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's Awami League, was set on fire in Dhaka on Thursday night. The office of the Jatiya Party was partially damaged in the attack. The Jatiya Party, founded by Hussain Muhammad Ershad, was part of the Bangladesh Awami League-led Grand Alliance.

On the other hand, the leader of the political Gono Adhikar Parishad, Shakiluzzaman, said that our procession was passing outside the Jatiya Party office, when bricks were thrown at them from the roof of its office. They themselves set fire to their office and fled. No comment has been made by the Jatiya Party regarding this so far.

Questions raised about the safety of Chinese citizens are surprising: Pakistan

Pakistan has objected to Beijing's ambassador in Islamabad raising the issue of safety of its citizens working on economic corridor projects. Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zehra Baloch reacted publicly and said that this statement is surprising. It is a departure from the long-standing diplomatic norms between the two countries. She reiterated Pakistan's commitment to ensure the safety of Chinese citizens. She also said that this was conveyed during the recent meeting of Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif with Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang.

Security concerns are also expected to be a key focus of President Asif Ali Zardari's visit to China next week. In early October, two Chinese nationals were killed and ten others injured in a suicide attack near Karachi airport. In March too, Chinese workers were targeted in an attack that left five Chinese nationals dead.