Bangladeshi police gather near a car set ablaze by Islamist protesters during clashes on Monday, May 6. Police broke up a protest of tens of thousands of religious hardliners and shut down an Islamist television station Monday after battles in the streets of Dhaka. Demonstrations calling for religious laws, led by the ultraconservative group Hefazat-e-Islam (Protectors of Islam), have been building since February.
Read a version of this story in Arabic.
Dhaka, Bangladesh (CNN) -- On any given Monday, Motijheel -- the commercial center of Dhaka -- is a bustling, chaotic mess of rickshaws and cars jockeying for space in overcrowded streets with an equally determined mass of pushing, shoving pedestrians.
This Monday was different.
Motijheel resembled a battleground, desolate and destroyed.
A day earlier, it was.
Throughout the day and late into the night Sunday, police and paramilitary troops battled with Islamists who laid siege to the area. Half a million of them, by many accounts.
It ended when security forces, 10,000-strong, moved into the area early Monday morning to disperse the protesters.
Battle over blasphemy in Bangladesh
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Workers continue rescue and recovery operations 12 days after the Rana Plaza building collapsed, in Savar, Dhaka, Bangladesh on Tuesday, May 7, 2013. More than 700 people died when the Rana Plaza, which housed garment factories and shops, collapsed on April 24. Workers continue to find bodies, many of them decomposed and difficult to recognize.
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Exactly how many died in the confrontation might never be known.
The national news agency, Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS), put the count at 14 dead and more than and more than 75 wounded.
Among them were three police officers, a paramilitary trooper and a 12-year-old boy.
Police in various cities reported a total of 18 deaths as violence spread.
Human rights activists say the final count will be much higher -- one that the government may be loath to share.
Photographs that appeared on online blogs and websites show bodies lying on stairwells or cowered in building corners -- bullet wounds to the head or back, or a pool of blood beside them.
To avoid a repeat of Sunday's violence, police declared no rallies and gatherings can take place all day Monday in Dhaka. And they escorted the Islamist group's leader out of Dhaka.
So protesters focused their efforts elsewhere.
In Narayanganj, a city near the capital, Islamists torched vehicles and fought pitched battles with police.
In the port city of Chittagong, they clashed with police -- with fatalities reported but not confirmed.
How it began
The Islamists are members of the ultra-conservative Hefazat-e-Islami (Protectors of Islam).
They gathered Sunday in numbers that boggled the mind.
Photos taken from balconies and rooftops showed a sea of bodies dressed in white panjabis and kufis -- both traditional Muslim attire in Bangladesh -- cramming the streets of Motijheel to the hilt.
They demanded that the government enact laws that put to death anyone who blasphemed Islam.
They called for mandatory Islamic education for all in this secular Muslim nation.
They wanted a ban on statues, and the words "absolute trust and faith in the Almighty Allah" reinstated in the constitution.
They declared that men and women should not be allowed to mix freely in this country of 150 million.
And they vowed they would not leave until their demands -- 13 in all -- were met.
The ensuing confrontation was violent. And bloody.
Country's direction at stake
What is happening in Bangladesh is a push and pull between two forces to determine the future direction of the country.
In February, thousands and thousands of youths held a month-long sit-in in another part of the capital, Shahbag, demanding the death penalty for those who took part in war crimes during Bangladesh's bloody battle for independence from Pakistan.
Many of those accused of war crimes now hold prominent position in Islamist parties.
Are you affected by the protests in Bangladesh? Send us your thoughts and experiences but stay safe.
The rallies, led by youths and fueled by social media, also tried to achieve something else: a ban on extreme fundamentalist parties.
But Bangladesh is also the fourth most populous Muslim country in the world.
And the radical elements of the religion were not going to sit by idly as those rallies grew.
The Islamists let their presence known with larger and larger rallies and strikes, first in cities outside Dhaka and then in the capital city.
Each time they came out, police officers with batons followed.
Clashes ensued. Properties were destroyed. Lives were lost.
The Islamists' tactic has been to turn the criticism on its head: By criticizing them, they seemed to say, you criticize Islam.
They called the Shahbag participants "anti-Islamic atheists" who deserve death for defaming the religion but who are protected by the government.
And so, when the Hefazat-e-Islami protesters gathered Sunday, that was one of their main demands: put to death these "atheists."
Battles for hours
Clashes broke out when Hefazat activists tried to break a police cordon.
The street battles went on for hours, with police firing rubber bullets and tear gas and the Islamists hurling crude explosives and chunks of brick.
Syed Ashraful Islam, secretary-general of the ruling Awami League and a government minister, said demonstrators set fire to the Communist Party of Bangladesh office and ransacked several other business establishments in central Dhaka.
Shahriar Shahid, the managing editor of BSS, said the service had to suspend operations for the day after Hefazat activists set a fire at the entrance of its office.
Blame to go around
The government, rights groups say, shares blame not just for its crackdown but also for muffling the free speech of the Islamists.
On Monday, authorities shut down the offices of pro-Islamist Diganta Television and Islami TV stations after they aired footage of the clashes.
"They came in early in the morning and ordered us closed," staffer Tanvir Hussain told CNN.
Information Minister Hasanul Haq Inu told reporters the stations "provoked violence (by) spreading hatred and rumors."
Last month, the government shut down another opposition newspaper.
"This is what I and many others feared when the Shahbag movement started," said Razab Chowdhury, a Bangladeshi expatriate in Fremont, California. "Does it matter that Hefazat is misguided? Does it matter that their vision of Islam is as twisted as the Taliban's?
"Before, I didn't know about these guys; they were a fringe group that pranced about in Chittagong. Now security has stabilized situation, but I fear it is pushing the country closer to a civil war."
Reminders everywhere
Monday morning, the reminders of the weekend violence were everywhere.
Smoke smoldered from rubbish heaps. Fires burned inside ransacked stores. Bricks and rocks littered the streets.
Shopkeepers held up pages from copies of Quran burned in shop fires and wailed, "Those who did this are not Muslims."
Bulldozers pushed the debris to the side.
Bangladesh is still reeling from the aftermath of a catastrophic building collapse last month where the death toll continues to mount: more than 650 by Monday.
And now this.
But Bangladeshis are resilient people.
By Monday afternoon, the rickshaws and the cars were back on the streets in Motijheel. So were the street peddlers and the pedestrians.
The cars blared their horns, the rickshaws squeezed into every available space. The pedestrians flung profanities.
Life, it appeared, was slowly returning to normal.
CNN's Saeed Ahmed reported and wrote this story from Atlanta with information provided by journalists Morshed Ali Khan, Farid Ahmed and Sajjad Hussein in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
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Bangladeshi police escort Allama Shah Ahmad Shafi, an Islamic leader and Hefazat-e-Islam movement veteran, from Dhaka on May 6.
Rapid Action Battalion personnel stand guard following a clash between police and Islamists in Dhaka on May 6.
Bangladeshi people look at burned religious literature, including the Quran, near the national mosque Baitul Mukarram in Dhaka on May 6.
A Bangladeshi man extinguishes a blaze at a building near the national mosque Baitul Mukarram in Dhaka on May 6.
Islamist protesters gather on a highway at an entry point to the city as as part of their protest in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on Sunday, May 5.
Bangladeshi police charge at Islamists with batons during clashes on May 5.
Hefazat-e-Islami activists attend a rally on May 5.
Bangladeshi police detain a protester on May 5.
Police walk past a fire set by Islamist protesters on May 5 during clashes with police.
Islamist demonstrators pray during protests on May 5.
Bangladeshi police fire rubber bullets at demonstrators from an armored car on May 5.
Civilians carry an injured protester on May 5.
Islamist protesters run as Bangladeshi police fire rubber bullets on May 5.
A Bangladeshi protester shouts during a rally on April 8 against the strike called by Hefazat-e-Islam. Correction: An earlier version of this caption misstated what this woman was protesting. It implied she was supporting the conservative Islamist movement that called the strike.
A man rides a bicycle past a bus set on fire during a clash with Jamaat-e-Islami activists in Rajshahi on February 28.
Bangladeshi police personnel stand guard during a nationwide strike in Dhaka on February 24.
Bangladeshi Islamist activists shout inside the Baitul Mukarram national mosque in Dhaka on February 22. Protesters in Dhaka and in other majority Muslim countries asked that bloggers defaming Islam and Prophet Mohammed be punished.
Bangladeshi police detain Islamist activists during clashes in Dhaka on February 22.
Bangladeshi police detain an Islamist activist during clashes in Dhaka on February 22.
An Islamic party activist shouts during a rally in Dhaka on February 20.
Tens of thousands of people join a sit-in at Shahbagh Square in Dhaka on February 15 to demand the death penalty for war crimes.
An effigy of a snake in a demonstration demanding the death sentence for the country's war criminals in Dhaka on February 6.
Bangladeshi social activists and bloggers in Dhaka use newspapers as hats during a demonstration demanding death sentences for war criminals on February 6.
Bangladeshi police detain a suspected Jamaat-e-Islami activist during a nationwide strike in Dhaka on February 6.
Bangladeshi social activists and bloggers participate in a torch-lit rally on February 6 in Dhaka.
Bangladeshi social activists and bloggers demonstrate in Dhaka on February 6.
Activists and former freedom fighters who fought against Pakistan in the 1971 war demonstrate outside the court in Dhaka on February 5.
Rapid Action Battalion personnel keep watch outside the International Crimes Tribunal court in Dhaka on February 5.
Rescue workers recover a body from the rubble on May 7, 2013.
Relatives place a body in the back of a truck on May 7, 2013.
A woman attempts to identify one of the bodies kept in a schoolyard on May 7, 2013.
Members of the Bangladeshi army and firefighters carry the body of a garment worker from the scene of the building collapse in Savar, outside Dhaka, on Sunday, May 5.
A woman holds a portrait of her missing relative as she sleeps on Saturday, May 4.
Relatives attempt to identify the bodies of loved ones on May 4.
Rescue workers dig out debris from the Rana Plaza building as Bangladeshi army personnel continue the second phase of a rescue operation using heavy equipment on Friday, May 3.
A woman reacts on May 3 after identifying a body found in the rubble.
A man stands amid the destruction as rescue and army personnel continue recovery operations on May 3.
A woman holds up a picture of a missing person believed to be trapped in the rubble on May 3.
A garment worker rescued from the wreckage of the Rana Plaza building lies in a hospital in Dhaka on Thursday, May 2.
A woman weeps after identifying her daughter's body in the rubble in Savar on May 2.
Rescue workers move debris as Bangladeshi army personnel continue the second phase of a rescue operation at the site of the collapsed building in Savar on May 2.
A woman mourns before a mass burial in Dhaka on Wednesday, May 1.
Unidentified bodies from the rubble lie on the ground as people gather for a mass burial in Dhaka on May 1.
Workers dig graves during a mass burial of unidentified garment workers on May 1.
Sohel Rana, owner of the collapsed Rana Plaza building, wears police-issued body armor and a helmet while being escorted to court in Dhaka on Tuesday, April 30. Rana was arrested near the Indian border, and protesters called for him to be hanged.
Bangladeshi troops carry the body of a garment worker out of the rubble of the collapsed Rana Plaza building in Savar on April 30.
Clothing with Joe Fresh labels lies in the debris on April 30.
Cranes operated by Bangladeshi army personnel work on Monday, April 29.
Firefighters try to control a blaze that started while they were trying to rescue a woman with heavy equipment on April 29.
Bangladeshi army personnel begin the second phase of the rescue operation using heavy equipment on April 29.
Rescuers look for survivors on Sunday, April 28. The Bangladesh Red Crescent Society says the chances of finding anyone alive in the rubble at this date are remote.
A woman mourns on April 28 at the site of the building collapse in Savar.
Rescue workers search for survivors on April 28.
Volunteers sleep before they begin more rescue operations on April 28.
Rescue workers carry a victim's body recovered from the rubble on April 28.
Clothes lie in the rubble on Saturday, April 27.
An arrested owner of a garment factory is escorted to an appearance at the court in Dhaka on April 27. Four people were arrested and four others are being questioned by police.
Relatives hold photos of missing and dead workers outside the factory April 27.
Two Bangladeshi women look at a board with notices posted of missing and dead workers on April 27.
Bangladeshi relatives and workers load a body onto a truck on April 27.
An excavator operated by the Bangladeshi Army removes debris on April 26.
Volunteers and rescue workers conduct rescue operations on April 26.
Rescue workers use textile as a slide to move bodies out of the rubble on April 26.
Rescue workers look for trapped garment workers on April 26.
Rescue workers stand on the rubble of the collapsed building on April 26.
Rescue workers search the rubble for victims and survivors on April 26.
A rescue worker looks for trapped workers on April 26.
Bangladeshi army personnel recover a survivor from rubble on April 26, 48 hours after the collapse.
Volunteers and rescue workers assist in rescue operations on April 26.
A physician assists a survivor after he was recovered from the rubble on April 26.
People rescue garment workers trapped at a building outside Dhaka, Bangladesh, on Thursday, April 25.
A Bangladeshi woman shows a picture of her missing daughter-in-law she believes is trapped in the collapsed building on April 25.
Bangladeshi firefighters cut a hole through concrete during rescue operations on April 25 in Savar, a suburb of Dhaka.
Volunteers and rescue workers work at the scene on April 25.
A woman appears devastated on April 25 after identifying the body of her husband killed in the building collapse.
Bangladeshi garment workers help evacuate a survivor by using a roll of fabric on April 24.
People rescue garment workers on Wednesday, April 24, after the building caved in, leaving a chaotic mass of broken concrete and twisted metal.
Relatives who lost a brother mourn outside a hospital on April 24.
Rescuers help an injured garment worker to escape from the Rana Plaza building on the outskirts of Dhaka on April 24.
Civilians help an injured garment worker on April 24. Work was proceeding slowly to avoid causing further collapse, an official said.
Rescue workers search for trapped garment workers in the Rana Plaza building on April 24.
An injured Bangladeshi lies on the hospital floor on April 24.
The injured receive treatment at a hospital on April 24.
An injured person rests in a hospital bed on April 24.
People wait anxiously on April 24 while rescuers search for survivors.
Rescuers help an injured person out of the seventh floor on April 24.
Civilians help out in rescue efforts at the collapsed building on April 24.
Hundreds watch the rescue operations on April 24.
People search for garment workers trapped under the debris on April 24.
Rescuers help an injured worker on April 24.
A body is trapped under the damaged building on April 24.
A woman is carried away from the building on April 24.
A rescue worker carries a worker to an ambulance on April 24.
Crowds gather around the collapsed building on April 24.
Rescuers bring out an injured garment worker from the building's sixth floor.
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