Dhaka siege leaves Montreal's Bangladeshi community shaken
Bangladeshi Montrealers at Cabot Square rally say extremist violence began before Friday night siege
For Muhammad Mallik, it's difficult to recognize the city he grew up in as images of the Bangladeshi capital flash across his television screen.
Friday night's hostage-taking in an upscale Dhaka restaurant left 20 of the 35 captives dead in what is just the latest in a recent string of attacks claimed by extremist groups around the world.
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"I was deeply shocked. It never should happen in my city," Mallik, a Bangladeshi Montrealer, said.
Mallik remembers Dhaka as a city with a lot of festivals and friendly people.
He was hoping to take his daughters there next year, but now, "it feels like our freedom was taken away."
"This just came up and we are not sure that we should go there right now because daddy doesn't want to put us in danger," said 13-year-old Nivrita. The trip would have been her first visit to Bangladesh.
For some members of Montreal's Bangladeshi community who gathered at Cabot Square Saturday afternoon, yesterday's siege is but the latest violent incident at the hands of extremists, particularly against religious minorities.
"This was going on the last six months," said Dipak Dhar, "they have raped our girls."
A statement from the Canadian branch of the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council circulated at the rally demanded justice for the "non-Muslim population, progressive intellectuals, bloggers, and writers" who they say have been victims of Islamic extremism in Bangladesh.
Some at the rally also felt it shouldn't have taken back to back terrorist attacks to get the world to notice.
"As a Canadian Bangladeshi, I say to [the] Canadian government to put their eyes and say to the Bangladeshi government to at least save us," Dhar said.
For the Mallik's, that the attacks happened during Ramadan adds insult to injury.
"A this moment it happened, and we are deeply said," Mallik said.
With files from Sudha Krishnan