The Hong Kong police blue-dye water cannon incident at Kowloon Mosque refers to an incident during the 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests on 20 October 2019, in which the Hong Kong Police Force used a Specialised Crowd Management Vehicle (water cannon vehicle) to fire blue-dyed tear-water twice at the Kowloon Mosque and Islamic Centre, where no protesters were reported to be present. In addition to causing the mosque to be "dyed blue", people outside the mosque were also hit, including former Indian Association chairman Mohan Chugani, members of Hong Kong Unison, several members of the public, and Hong Kong Legislative Council member Jeremy Tam. Some of those hit later went to hospital for medical examination. The incident drew criticism from various parties over the police's actions.
Incident
On 20 October 2019, a march originally organised by the Civil Human Rights Front did not receive a letter of no objection from the police, but large numbers of protesters still took to the streets that day. After the march ended, many protesters remained in the Tsim Sha Tsui area and clashed with police outside the Tsim Sha Tsui Police Station. At 4:00 p.m., several ethnic minorities and a number of Chinese people were standing outside the Kowloon Mosque and Islamic Centre to protect the mosque from damage and to ensure that no one would attack ethnic minority people, after rumours had circulated before the march that South Asian ethnic minorities might be targeted. According to Hong Kong Unison, the people present were not wearing Respirator or other equipment commonly used by protesters, and were not protesters. The Hong Kong Police deployed Specialised Crowd Management Vehicles, commonly known as water cannon vehicles, belonging to the Police Tactical Unit to disperse people suspected of taking part in an unlawful assembly. As a water cannon vehicle advanced along Nathan Road in Tsim Sha Tsui and passed outside the Kowloon Mosque, it fired blue-dyed tear-water at the mosque. A few seconds after the water cannon stopped firing, officers on the vehicle shouted loudly, and the vehicle then fired a second time. The spray hit some of the people who had been standing outside the mosque to protect it, including several elderly ethnic minority leaders in Hong Kong, such as Mohan Chugani, former chairman of the Indian Association and the 73-year-old brother of media worker Michael Chugani, members of Hong Kong Unison, several members of the public, and Hong Kong Legislative Council member Jeremy Tam. Some of those hit by the water cannon coughed and vomited, while others were injured and sent to hospital. The mosque was also "dyed blue". After the incident, members of the public went to the mosque voluntarily to help clean the blue dye, and the area was largely cleaned up by shortly after 8:00 p.m. In addition to the mosque, the nearby St Andrew's Church, the oldest Christian church in Kowloon, was also stained blue, with blue liquid residue left on the church's exterior wall and the pavement.
Aftermath
Police response on the day On the evening of the incident, the police responded on their Facebook page, stating that "coloured water accidentally hit the entrance and front gate of the Kowloon Mosque. The Police contacted the Chief Imam of the mosque and Muslim community leaders immediately after the incident to explain the matter and express concern." The post also included an English version: "Coloured water was used for effecting the dispersal, which accidentally affected the entrance and front gate of the Kowloon Mosque." The post did not include an apology. At around 9:00 p.m., Yau Tsim District Commander Ho Yun-sing and Police Public Relations Branch Senior Superintendent Yu Hoi-kwan arrived at the mosque with more than ten plain-clothes officers carrying towels and buckets. They entered the mosque for about ten minutes. Afterwards, several officers cleaned the stair handrails with towels for about five minutes. The police left at 10:17 p.m. and did not answer reporters' questions throughout. Mosque staff later said that the police had apologised inside the mosque. Some bystanders criticised the police as "putting on an act", as members of the public had already voluntarily cleaned the blue stains from the mosque in the afternoon.
Apologies by officials
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