Posts Tagged ‘Bangladesh’
April 8th, 2013
Four Bangladeshi bloggers are being held on suspicion of “harming religious sentiment” amid protests calling for blasphemy to be made a capital crime.
On 31 March, hardline Islamists submitted a list of 84 “atheist” bloggers to authorities, demanding their arrest. Rasel Parvez, Mashiur Rahman Biplob and Subrata Adhikari Shuvo, were arrested on 1 April, and had laptops and other devices confiscated. Asif Mohiuddin was arrested days later.
The arrests take part against the backdrop of the Shahbag protests. The protests, which began as demands for the death penalty for figures convicted of war crimes during the 1971 war that led to independence from Pakistan — when many Islamist groups sided with Pakistan — have broadened to general demonstrations against the radical Jamaat-e-Islami and other “extremist” groups.
The secular movement has drawn a strong response from hardliners, who have called for a blasphemy law, along the way smearing activists as defamers of the prophet Muhammad.
The Islamist group Hefajat-e-Islam has said the capital Dhaka will face a “siege” unless the government meets its demand to introduce the death penalty for blasphemy.
However, Bangladesh’s Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina has rejected calls for a blasphemy law, telling the BBC that “existing laws are enough”.
She went on to say that while Bangladesh is a “secular democracy”, where everyone “has the right to practice their religion freely”, it was “not fair to hurt anybody’s religious feeling”, and that the government “try to protect every religious sentiment.”
June 19th, 2012
A journalist has been
hacked to death in
Bangladesh after reporting on a local drug syndicate. Jamal Uddin from Banglore daily Gramer Kagoj was allegedly kidnapped by syndicate leader Tota Miah and ten other men at 11pm on 15 June. The attackers gauged out one of the journalist’s eyes, slashed veins on his legs and hacked at his body. The group fled the scene after neighbours heard Uddin’s cries for help. The journalist died on the way to hospital. Police later discovered a bloodstained towel and a machete at Miah’s house. It is believed Uddin had previously filed a complaint against Miah after receiving death threats.
May 23rd, 2012
A group of unidentified assailants attempted to
hack off the arm of a journalist in
Bangladesh on Saturday (19 May). ABM Fazlur Rahman, from daily Samakal was targeted in the brutal attack after reporting on an obscene dance performance at a university in Pabna. Rahman was contacted by an anonymous caller, asking him to visit Govt Edward College campus. Upon his arrival at the campus, he was set upon by four people with machetes. The journalist has received treatment at Pabna Medical College Hospital.
March 26th, 2012
A Bangladesh court last week ordered government authorities to
shut down five Facebook pages and a website for blasphemous content. Judges at the high court in Dhaka ordered the telecommunications regulator, home ministry officials and police to block the offending content after two university lecturers filed a lawsuit complaining that the pages and the site were hurting people’s religious sentiments. The pages were deemed to contain “disparaging remarks and cartoons” about the Prophet Mohammed, Jesus, the Koran, Lord Buddha and Hindu gods. In 2010, Facebook was
temporarily blocked on charges of malicious propaganda against the Prime Minister and hurting religious feelings.
February 13th, 2012
Two
Bangladeshi television journalists have
been murdered in Dhaka. Sagar Sarwar, news editor for private TV station Maasranga, and his wife, Meherun Runi, from another private station ATN Bangla were stabbed to death in the early hours of Saturday morning. The well known couple were found by their five-year-old son, who called relatives living nearby. A senior detective told local newspapers that preliminary investigations suggested that the killings had been planned and that the couple had probably known their attackers.
November 25th, 2011
The news editor of an online news agency has
been released on bail after being held for nearly four months. Ekramul Haq, the editor of recently closed Sheershanews.com, was released from jail in
Dhaka at around 4pm, local time, after he was granted bail by the lower court. Haq was arrested on suspicion of extorting Tk 20 lakh (around £17,000) from Chittagong businessman Gias Uddin Talukdar on July 30.
September 12th, 2011
Bangladesh‘s government has passed
a new broadcast law which will censor TV programmes and movies. The law, which will go into effect in three months’ time, prevents the broadcasting of content depicting non-Muslim holidays, as well as “kiss scenes” in films on foreign channels.
August 10th, 2011
Muhammad Ekramul Haque, editor and owner of
Sheershanews.com and
Sheersha Kagoj, was arrested on 31 July by
Bangladeshi authorities on a charge of extortion.
According to police reports, Haque allegedly threatened to negatively cover a travel agency unless he received 200,000 TK (£1630).
In a press release, Sheershanews.com defended the editor, claiming that he was actually arrested for publishing reports on government corruption. The press release also denies the existence of the travel agency.
