UNB, Dhaka :
Human Rights Watch (HRW), a New York-based global rights body, voiced deep concern over the killings of bloggers one after another and observed that the free speech in Bangladesh is under attack as never before in the country.
In a statement, HRW South Asia director Meenakshi Ganguly also said Bangladeshi authorities are increasingly cracking down on freedom of expression. “Free speech in Bangladesh is under attack as
never before, held hostage between angry, machete-wielding radicals on one hand and a government, quick to take offence, on the other,” said the statement posted the rights groups’ website on Tuesday.
It deplored that four bloggers have been murdered this year by religious extremists for promoting secularism, a principle which these groups consider to be anti-Islam. “Following the killing of blogger Nilroy Neel earlier this month, Ansar Al Islam, an insurgent group linked to Al-Qaeda, claimed responsibility, saying they had the “permission of Allah” and warning of further attacks. While police were aware of threats to Nilroy Neel and the other slain bloggers, they failed to properly protect them,” the statement reads.
The rights body said a reasonable government would have swiftly condemned these murders, and tried to hunt down the attackers. Instead the police’s first instinct was to urge self-censorship, with Bangladesh’s inspector general of police, AkM Shahidul Hoque, warning that “hurting religious sentiments is a crime.” “It took more than a week for police to arrest three suspects in Nilroy Neel’s murder, despite the alleged perpetrators’ identities being known to the police.”
“The police chief’s comments were shocking, but not surprising, because Bangladeshi authorities are increasingly cracking down on freedom of expression,” it observed. It also voiced concern over the arrest of journalist Probir Sikdar, saying he was arrested by the dreaded Detective Branch, a specialist police intelligence unit, for his Facebook posts accusing a cabinet minister and other politicians of committing war crimes during the country’s war for independence. “The prosecutor said Sikdar had “cast aspersion on the minister using information technology”.
Human Rights Watch (HRW), a New York-based global rights body, voiced deep concern over the killings of bloggers one after another and observed that the free speech in Bangladesh is under attack as never before in the country.
In a statement, HRW South Asia director Meenakshi Ganguly also said Bangladeshi authorities are increasingly cracking down on freedom of expression. “Free speech in Bangladesh is under attack as
never before, held hostage between angry, machete-wielding radicals on one hand and a government, quick to take offence, on the other,” said the statement posted the rights groups’ website on Tuesday.
It deplored that four bloggers have been murdered this year by religious extremists for promoting secularism, a principle which these groups consider to be anti-Islam. “Following the killing of blogger Nilroy Neel earlier this month, Ansar Al Islam, an insurgent group linked to Al-Qaeda, claimed responsibility, saying they had the “permission of Allah” and warning of further attacks. While police were aware of threats to Nilroy Neel and the other slain bloggers, they failed to properly protect them,” the statement reads.
The rights body said a reasonable government would have swiftly condemned these murders, and tried to hunt down the attackers. Instead the police’s first instinct was to urge self-censorship, with Bangladesh’s inspector general of police, AkM Shahidul Hoque, warning that “hurting religious sentiments is a crime.” “It took more than a week for police to arrest three suspects in Nilroy Neel’s murder, despite the alleged perpetrators’ identities being known to the police.”
“The police chief’s comments were shocking, but not surprising, because Bangladeshi authorities are increasingly cracking down on freedom of expression,” it observed. It also voiced concern over the arrest of journalist Probir Sikdar, saying he was arrested by the dreaded Detective Branch, a specialist police intelligence unit, for his Facebook posts accusing a cabinet minister and other politicians of committing war crimes during the country’s war for independence. “The prosecutor said Sikdar had “cast aspersion on the minister using information technology”.
