DHAKA: Star Bangladesh cricketer Shakib Al Hasan has been forced to make a public apology after receiving Islamist threats for attending a Hindu ceremony in neighbouring India. The leading all-rounder is the latest target of increasingly vocal Islamists who have also staged huge anti-France rallies in recent weeks over the publication of cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed.

Shakib, who has recently completed a year's ban for failing to report corrupt approaches, set off a social media storm in the Muslim-majority country after attending a ceremony in Kolkata dedicated to a Hindu goddess. Islamic preachers in Bangladesh say people should not attend the ceremonies of other faiths.