Facebook Ban – Blocked, Banned, Censured and Beaten in Bangladesh
I think it should be made clear that the Facebook ban in Bangladesh has very little to do with what happened in Pakistan or any perceived insult or threat to Islamic sensibilities. The real reason for the banning was that –
1. A caricature of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had been uploaded on to Facebook in which her face was superimposed on to the body of a Hindu goddess. An arrest has been made in this connection.
2. An unedited investigation report of BDR massacre was published (by head of investigation) in Facebook that directly implicated Sheikh Hasina, her ministers, Awami League MP's and Hasina's nephew and local Awami leaders in the massacre.
The decision of Pakistan to ban Facebook and the perceived insult to Islam was used as an excuse/pretext to ban the site in Bangladesh but for most people in the country these issues were largely irrelevant. The main objective in the banning was to suppress freedom of expression and speech that is critical of the government. The government is undertaking certain secularization policies so its concern about Islamic sentiments seems highly dubious. There is now widespread repression in the country and people opposed to the government policies and corruption are now targets of secret killings that has recently been highlighted by Amnesty International. The closure of Amar Desh newspaper is merely another example of the Baksalite tendencies of the government.
THE HIT LIST SO FAR -
- Channel One closed
- Jumuna TV closed
- DeshCalling blog banned ( http://deshcalling.blogspot.com )
- Talkshow Point of Order closed
- You Tube banned
- Facebook banned
- Amardesh journalist attacked and beaten
- Amardesh editor was attacked in Dhaka and in London by Awami league thugs
- New Age editor Nurul Kabir threatened and car followed by armed men
- Amardesh publisher is arrested by NSI
- Amardesh closed
- Amardesh Acting Editor Mahmudur Rahman arrested and jailed
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