2 Jun 2010 | News and features
Police last night closed a popular newspaper, sealing its offices and arresting its editor on fraud charges — opposition fears move marks wider press clampdown. Parvez Kabir and Michael Harris report
The Bangladeshi government ordered the closure of the country’s third largest national daily newspaper Amar Desh at around midnight last night. In an interview conducted with the acting editor, Mahmudur Rahman, in the early hours of the morning before his arrest, he told Index on Censorship that police officers under government orders had stormed the newspaper’s headquarters in Kawaran Bazar, Dhaka. Many in the opposition Bangladeshi National Party (BNP) — which Amar Desh supports — believe the closure is part of a move by the Awami League government to crack down on press freedom to minimise opposition to government policy.
In April, Bangladesh’s only private television station, Channel One, was taken off air by the government due to “licensing issues” and yesterday, popular social networking site Facebook was also blocked in the name of “public order”. Many Bangladeshis fear a return to the censorship and silence enforced by previous governments. In 1975, Awami League leader, the late Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, banned and closed all but four state-owned national newspapers to shore up support for one-party rule. This latest clampdown comes in spite of the government’s official rhetoric of creating a Digital Bangladesh.
Background to the closure
In recent months, Mahmudur Rahman has written editorials and articles criticising the government, he has documented human rights abuses, extra-judicial killings and maladministration by officials linked to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Rahman told Index: “The government has made a fascist stance against freedom of expression.” He stressed, “We are the third largest national daily and have the second largest internet readership…I have in my journalism exposed the government’s record on corruption and human rights abuses extensively, in recent days we have seen a high number of custodial deaths…in other words I have challenged Sheikh Hasina, the current prime minister, on her integrity and challenged the establishment.”
According to unconfirmed reports, Amar Desh’s troubles began when its publisher, Hashmat Ali Hash, was detained by National Security Intelligence agents at an undisclosed location. Ali was freed after six hours, and announced his intention to sue Mahmudur Rahman on charges of fraud, impersonation and defamation. Ali signed papers stating he was no longer responsible for Amar Desh and stating “legal steps can be taken as his name is being printed as the publisher”, hence the fraud charges.
According to reports for Index from Bangladesh, the police were initially unable to arrest Mahmudur Rahman as almost 400 members of the newspapers staff acted as a human barricade. They pleaded to be arrested with him in an act of solidarity to highlight the government’s curbs on freedom of speech.
Rahman has asked those who work for freedom of expression around the world to publicise the situation in Bangladesh. He said: “Support us in the fight to freedom of speech, people should be free to struggle and show their dissent against oppressive measures, that is part of any civil plural democracy”.
We have been unable to contact Bangladesh’s High Commission for comment.
The Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists and Dhaka Union of Journalists have called a protest rally at the National Press Club at 11:00am today (Thursday) in protest against the government’s action
Parvez Kabir is a UK-based activist on Bangladeshi issues; Michael Harris is Index on Censorship’s Public Affairs Manager
UPDATE: Mahmudar Rahman’s lawayers claim he has benn tortured in custody. Read here
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1 Apr 2010 | Index Index, minipost, Uncategorized
On Tuesday, after a High Court hearing, a ban was lifted on an exhibition by photographer Dr. Shahidul Alam. The exhibition, named “Crossfire”, contained a collection of photographs and displays regarding extrajudicial executions by the Bangladeshi Rapid Action Battalion (RAB). The show at the Drik Gallery in Dakha was closed by police on 22 March, 2010.
27 Oct 2009 | Index Index, minipost, News and features
F.M Masum, a journalist for the English-language daily The New Age, was arrested on 22 October and tortured in Dhaka. He was held by the Rapid Action Battalion, an elite crime and counterterrorist force. It is believed that his arrest and torture is in relation to The New Age having published articles linking the Rapid Action Battalion to extrajudicial executions and drug cases. Masum was freed after The New Age intervened on his behalf. (RSF)
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15 Sep 2025 | About Index, Asia and Pacific, Nepal, News and features, Newsletters
It’s been a week of political violence and while many might still be glued to news about the murder of Charlie Kirk (my response here), I want to turn attention to another unfolding crisis – the growing war on digital freedoms. This week that war flared dramatically in Nepal.
The story moved fast. Thousands of people, mostly young, took to the streets at the start of the week to protest the government’s decision to ban 26 social media platforms. Scores of unarmed protesters were killed and government buildings torched. The prime minister and other officials then resigned. The social media bans were lifted. Writing for Index from the country this week, Gary Wornell spoke of his horror and sadness at what unfolded. “The Nepal I had known as my second home for the last 13 years would never be,” he said. His piece is both a good explainer and a deeply emotional witness account.
The government tried to justify the bans as necessary to tackle fake news, hate speech and platform accountability. The youth saw it differently, and called it censorship, plain and simple. We agree, not least because we’ve heard this line before, many times. Across South Asia (and for that matter the world) governments use the pretext of “online safety” to roll back digital rights and, by extension, civil liberties.
In India, we’ve closely tracked how Narendra Modi’s government has tightened control over digital platforms through legislative and regulatory measures, often under the guise of combating fake news or protecting national unity and security. The ruling party has also benefitted from the mob veto, where right-wing groups and influencers have lodged a blizzard of police complaints about errant social media posts. These have resulted in prominent individuals, such as commentator Dr Medusa and journalist (and Index award winner) Mohammed Zubair, being charged with sedition. In Pakistan a bill was passed in January that gives the government sweeping controls on social media. Users can now be sent to prison for spreading disinformation. Sri Lanka’s Online Safety Act allows the government to take down content critical of it to apparently protect national security interests. Bangladesh has the Digital Security Act, which has been criticised for its breadth. I’ll park the UK’s Online Safety Act but we have concerns about that too, as we’ve frequently highlighted.
Not all legislation is cynical or censorious. Several voices from our South Asia network reminded us this week that digital spaces are indeed being used to incite hate and violence. The amplification of hateful content against the Rohingya in Myanmar on Facebook is a tragic example. But here’s a distinction: recognising and responding to harm is not the same as justifying an authoritarian response. Even those most concerned with digital hate in South Asia condemned Nepal’s actions.
The fury has died down in Nepal. Still, as the above pattern shows, it’s unlikely this woeful chapter will be the end of government attempts to shut down digital discourse.
