Plight of secular bloggers in Bangladesh - Official apathy and indifference emboldens murderous Islamic extremists
Written By: Kausik Datta
Reuters Exclusive - Widow of slain U.S.-Bangladeshi blogger lashes out at Dhaka
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Rafida Ahmed, who is recovering from injuries including the loss of her thumb suffered during a hacking attack by jihadi assailants, speaks during an interview with Reuters near Washington April 23, 2015. REUTERS/Stringer[/caption]
Hefajat & Government - Tom & Jerry in New Version
Probably, we are the only nation in the world who has to fight every day to find out our country. No, it doesn't mean that we lost our country geographically every day, but there is a far distance between the Bangladesh in our mind and in front of our eyes. 'Bangladesh' is a name of glorious history, a deep rooted cultural phenomena and obviously a name of interaction between various ethnic groups. The common people of Bangladesh never believe in any kind of anarchy. Though they are religious, but as far as I can find their visions throughout their statements in various references and oral interviews, they never relay on any fundamental forces. So, it's a big question now, how these fundamentalist groups make their uprising in our state. The straight answer is 'with the fresh aid of existing political forces'. If we look at the history of growing fundamentalism in Bangladesh after the liberation period, we find the state machine as a key force to make this happen. After the brutal assassination of the father of the nation, state directly played the role to build up the fundamentalist forces. This role of state is still in the van. As a reason, unfortunately, Bangladesh in the dream of secular forces is just like a stage play; there is no reflection in the present ruling or administration.
BANGLADESH & SAUDI ARABIA
Section 57 of ICT (Amendment) Act-2013 of Bangladesh has made Technology (ICT) Act-2006 ridiculous by allowing law enforcement authorities to arrest any person without warrant. According to Article 57; sub-sections (1) and (2) of the Act, any inflammatory write-ups deliberately published in electronic media on sensitive religious issues to hurt the religious belief can be considered as a crime and those responsible can be slapped with a 10-year imprisonment and a fine of Taka 10 million. It also suggested that the crime is non-bailable.
Speak, for the Cup of Hemlock is not yet on Your Lips (by- Asif Mohiuddin)
[Moderator's Note: Asif Mohiuddin who is currently in prison, considered as one of the most outspoken atheist and humanist bloggers of Bangladesh. His writing—which was heavily critical of religious dogma, bigotry and superstition—and his political activism including the Jagannath University protests angered the government, as well as marked the beginning of the threats he received from fundamentalists. These threats eventually led to action in mid-January this year. Mohiuddin was brutally stabbed and severely injured by three suspected but unidentified Islamic fundamentalists. When Asif returned from hospital and started writing again, the BTRC (The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission) allegedly told the blog communities to stop spreading his messages. Complying with the threat, Somewherein, Bangladesh's first Bangla language community blog site, ultimately banned Mohiuddin, who used to write there regularly (and was even 2012's User Winner for "Best Social Activism Campaign" at the Deutsche Welle's International Blog Awards). Now he has been arrested and still in jail. While Asif has been an object of criticism for a number of groups for various reasons, many young freethinkers in Bangladesh look to him as a nonconformist idol who has fought against the tyrannical state machinery until the very end. The arrest of Asif Mohiuddin, came a day after the detention of three other bloggers (Subrata Shuvo, Mashiur Rahman Biplob and Rasel Pervez) and ahead of an Islamist march towards the capital Dhaka to demand the death penalty for online atheist writers. While three other bloggers recently were released on bail, Asif Mohiuddin are still in jail.
Shahbag movement - Rebuilding Bengali Identity (by Asif Mohiuddin)
[Moderator's Note: Asif Mohiuddin who is currently in prison, considered as one of the most outspoken atheist and humanist bloggers of Bangladesh. His writing—which was heavily critical of religious dogma, bigotry and superstition—and his political activism including the Jagannath University protests angered the government, as well as marked the beginning of the threats he received from fundamentalists. These threats eventually led to action in mid-January this year. Mohiuddin was brutally stabbed and severely injured by three suspected but unidentified Islamist fundamentalists. When Asif returned from hospital and started writing again, the BTRC (The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission) allegedly told the blog communities to stop spreading his messages. Complying with the threat, Somewherein, Bangladesh's first Bangla language community blog site, ultimately banned Mohiuddin, who used to write there regularly (and was even 2012's User Winner for "Best Social Activism Campaign" at the Deutsche Welle's International Blog Awards). Now he has been arrested and still in jail. While Asif has been an object of criticism for a number of groups for various reasons, many young freethinkers in Bangladesh look to him as a nonconformist idol who has fought against the tyrannical state machinery until the very end. Asif's last status and a forceful writeup (published in richarddawkins.net just before he got arrested) about the arrested bloggers reads:
In Which Direction Will the State Go? The state is at loggerhead with Fundamentalism
Moderator's Note: Subrata Adhikari Shuvo, an eminent mukto-mona blogger, was arrested on April 1st on charges of Blasphemy. He is one among the free-spirited online writers who are being punished for virally spreading their reason-based opinions. Not once did Shuvo violate any stated Bangladeshi law, yet his actions have been declared as a crime in the eye of the government. What's more twisted is that Bangladesh does not even have an official "blasphemy" law, like Pakistan does. Human rights organizations all over the world are berating Bangladesh for restricting the bloggers' right to freedom of speech (Please refer to the article published in Skeptic under the title, 'The Struggle of Bangladeshi Bloggers') .