{"id":5772,"date":"2015-08-19T18:50:39","date_gmt":"2015-08-19T17:50:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/english.thesunrisetoday.com\/?p=5772"},"modified":"2015-08-19T18:50:39","modified_gmt":"2015-08-19T17:50:39","slug":"free-speech-held-hostage-in-bangladesh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/english.thesunrisetoday.com\/index.php\/free-speech-held-hostage-in-bangladesh\/","title":{"rendered":"Free speech held hostage in Bangladesh"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"HRW\"<\/a>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.
\nNew York-based Human Rights (HRW) has asked Bangladesh to change course, adopt international standards, and uphold constitutional freedoms.
\nIn an article titled \u201cDispatches: Bangladesh\u2019s Machete Attacks on Free Speech\u201d published on 18 August, Meenakshi Ganguly touched on the recent killings of bloggers, arrest of journalists and also the \u2018shocking\u2019 statements by the police.
\nFour bloggers have been murdered this year by religious extremists for promoting secularism, a principle which these groups consider to be anti-Islam.
\nFollowing the killing of blogger Niloy Neel earlier this month, Ansar Al Islam, an insurgent group linked to Al-Qaeda, claimed responsibility, saying they had the \u201cpermission of Allah\u201d and warning of further attacks, wrote the author.
\n\u201cWhile police were aware of threats to Niloy Neel and the other slain bloggers, they failed to properly protect them,\u201d the article read.
\nIt said that a reasonable government would have swiftly condemned these murders, and tried to hunt down the attackers.
\nInstead, it regretted, the police\u2019s first instinct was to urge self-censorship, with Bangladesh\u2019s inspector general of police, AKM Shahidul Hoque, warning that-may-hurt-religious-sensitivities that \u201churting religious sentiments is a crime.\u201d
\n\u201cIt took more than a week for police to arrest three suspects in Niloy Neel\u2019s murder, despite the alleged perpetrators\u2019 identities being known to the police,\u201d said the HRW article.
\nIt pointed out that the police chief\u2019s comments were shocking, but not surprising, because Bangladeshi authorities are increasingly cracking down on freedom of expression. It also referred to the arrest of journalist Probir Sikder this week.
\nLast week, the article added, a Bangladesh court sentenced IT lecturer Muhammad Ruhul Amin Khandaker in absentia to three years in prison for a 2011 Facebook post on the death of an acclaimed Bangladeshi filmmaker in a road accident, blaming politicians for not ensuring road safety and wondering how the prime minister was spared such mishaps.
\nThe article added, just two weeks ago the police issued a statement criticising two prominent human rights groups for reporting on extrajudicial executions and other abuses by security forces, saying any activity that harms the police reputation amounts to defamation, and can be considered subversive.
\nCalling on the authorities to follow national and international standards for human rights and freedom of expression, the HRW emphasised the need for doing it \u201cfast\u201d, because as long as authorities continue to crush free speech, those who speak out risk losing their lives.<\/p>\n

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