In recent weeks Bangladesh was back in the international headlines due to large demonstrations organised by a number of Islamist groups protesting the French President Emmanuel Macron’s stance on the right to publish cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. According to the police 50,000 people attended the protests as they tried to reach the French embassy in Dhaka, while organisers claimed there were more than 100,000 protestors. What we do know is that the march was two kilometres long. Macron’s comment that Islam was “in crisis” and his defence of the “offensive” caricature, which Muslims say is an insult to their prophet, has prompted a global backlash, with many Muslims across the world holding protests and calling for a boycott of French products. The march in Bangladesh which ignored coronavirus social distancing rules carried effigies of Macron. The current secretary general of Hefajat, speaking as the main speaker at the rally demanded closure of the French embassy in Dhaka wi...