An Islamist political party has vowed to deepen the role of Islam in Bangladesh to avenge the execution of a party leader for war crimes committed during the country's 1971 war of independence against Pakistan.
Abdul Quader Mollah, 65, was hanged on Thursday night in a case that has exacerbated the political divide in Bangladesh. Mollah was a leader of Jamaat-e-Islami and a key member of the opposition.
Opponents of Jamaat-e-Islami say it is a fundamentalist group with no place in a secular country. Bangladesh is predominantly Muslim but is governed by largely secular laws based on British common law.
The execution sparked violent protests on Friday as activists torched homes and businesses belonging to government supporters. At least five people died in the violence.
But the execution also prompted hundreds of people rejoiced in the streets of the capital, Dhaka, saying justice had been served. In an editorial, Bangladesh's English-language Daily Star newspaper congratulated the prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, for bringing to trial Mollah "40 long years" after he committed his crimes.
A Jamaat-e-Islami leader, Makbul Ahmed, said in a statement late on Thursday that "people will take revenge on this killing by establishing Islam in Bangladesh, which is stained with the blood of Abdul Quader Mollah".
He added: "I urge all the people who support the cause of the Islamic movement to show utmost patience to build a strong resistance."
Jamaat-e-Islami says Mollah's trial was politically motivated and an attempt to eliminate Islamic parties. Those who support the execution say he was hanged for serious crimes and that the punishment had nothing to do with Islam.
Ataur Rahman, a political analyst, said attempts by the government to neutralise Jamaat-e-Islami could backfire and the party could become more radicalised despite Hasina's determination to suppress fundamentalist groups.
"Jamaat-e-Islami as a political party has been in operation for a long time, so it's natural that it will hit back with what it has in its possession when you hit it in an extreme way," Rahman said.
Mollah was the first person to be hanged for war crimes in Bangladesh under an international tribunal established in 2010 to investigate atrocities stemming from the independence war.
On Friday Jamaat-e-Islami activists attacked supporters of the ruling party and minority Hindus in parts of Bangladesh, setting ablaze their homes and shops. Hindus are generally believed to be supporters of Hasina.
In Dhaka, Jamaat-e-Islami activists set fire to at least four cars and a motorcycle near the main railway station, said Shahzadi Sultana, a fire official. Several homemade bombs were detonated during the attack, Somoy TV reported.
The special tribunal convicted Mollah of killing a student and a family of 11, and of aiding Pakistani troops in killing 369 other people during the nine-month war against Pakistan.
Bangladesh says Pakistani soldiers, aided by local collaborators including Mollah, killed up to three million people and raped 200,000 women during the war, according to estimates.
The case remains politically volatile because most of those being tried are connected to the country's opposition. Mollah was a key member of Jamaat-e-Islami, which is barred from taking part in national elections next month. The group is closely tied to the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist party.
The execution could complicate an already tense political situation in Bangladesh, where the opposition has carried out violent protests that have left almost 100 people dead since October, demanding an independent caretaker government to oversee the elections.
The government has rejected that demand, and an opposition alliance led by the former prime minister Khaleda Zia plans to boycott the vote on 5 January.
