-------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Shimul Chaudhury <honestdebater@yahoo.ca>
Date: Jul 1, 2010 3:46 PM
The Daily Star, Dhaka, 27 June 2010 Shimul Chaudhury, On e-mail The forecast of the political weather of Bangladesh is not very good. The way the ruling regime Awami League is treating the opposition parties and stifling dissent reminds people of the BAKSAL (Bangladesh Krishak Sramik Awami League) of 1975 when all opposition political parties and newspapers were banned. During the campaign of the last general election, the Awami League never mentioned that, in honour of the founder of BAKSAL Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, it would go back to a one-party political system in Bangladesh. But now we notice an irresistible tendency in the Awami psyche to return to BAKSAL style politics. Television channels and newspapers are being shut down. Rallies of opposition parties are being thwarted with bright Awami excuses: Awami affiliate organisations call counter rallies at the venue where opposition parties want to hold a meeting; and then the police step in and declare 144 to proscribe any political rallies. On one occasion, obviously directed by the government high-ups in Dhaka, a local UNO emerged in the midst of a political meeting and declared 144 on the spot. Needless to say, if such an episode occurred in the midst of an Awami rally, the UNO would not have returned home alive. Unlike the first Awami regime of the 1970s, the present Awami government does not shut down a newspaper without an excuse. It locates a man, takes him away from his home and keeps him in a secret location for 6 hours. Then the country comes to know that this man sued an editor, on the basis of which the government arrests the editor and shuts down his newspaper. ------------------------------- The Financial Express, Dhaka, 27 June 2010 http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/more.php?news_id=104277&date=2010-06-27 Protecting freedom of press, respecting voice of dissent Shimul Chaudhury It appears that the government has a strong motive to continue harassing and torturing editor of 'Amar Desh' Mahmudur Rahman in the name of legal proceedings. What is most worrying is that the Supreme Court (including the High Court and the Appellate divisions) is on holiday until July 03, 2010. If the government takes this long vacation as an opportunity to harass and torture this patriotic man further in police custody, freedom-loving people in Bangladesh and beyond, will have some strong reasons to feel disturbed. On a personal note, let this scribe make it very clear that he is not a member of any political group in Bangladesh. But he has deep respect for Mr Rahman. We all know that he has been honest and brave in exposing the wrongdoings of the people in power. When many columnists remained largely silent and exercised self-censorship during the last army-backed government, he was the one to write relentlessly against human right violations during those two years. He was the man to challenge them! After the present government came to power, he continued writing for the betterment of his country and against any power trying to exercise political and economic hegemonistic goals in the region and also against the government's ineffective actions to counter the same. Recently I contacted a lawyer who has been partly involved in handling Mr Rahman's case. This is what he said to me: "He [Mahmudur Rahman] was taken to an unknown place, eyes were folded, he was undressed, tortured ... was not allowed to sign a letter of authority for 'appointment of lawyer' (it was later allowed), he was kept in police custody without food and drink for long hours, he was not allowed to see his lawyers / family members for over 24 hours. He was arrested on June 01, by now he has lost his weight @ 7 Kgs, he was taken on police custody for interrogation in criminal cases which were filed after he had been arrested!!!.....his life is endangered. Please see the reports (Naya Diganta, Amar Desh and other dailies June 03-June 15). His very arrest was not justified. He said to his lawyers/family members and even to the Court that he had been brutally tortured: physically and mentally....starvation, inhuman and degrading treatments in violation of all norms of human rights, constitutional safeguards....all have taken place by now...." Upon court appearance, Mr Rahman told the judge that he was not supposed to be alive after what he had gone through in police custody and called upon the judge to save his life. The political party currently in power in Bangladesh does not tolerate freedom of the press. On June 16, 1975, the then Awami League government had closed all newspapers except four under government control and banned all other political groups. Since this regime came to power in early 2009, it has kept torturing people of opposition political groups, threatening journalists and shut down television channels like Channel 1 and Jamuna TV, and the newspaper, Amar Desh. What we have gathered after reading different news reports on Mr Mahmudur Rahman's arrest and torture on him is that he was severely tortured by unidentified five people in one early morning in the name of remand; he was blindfolded, stripped naked. When those men started torturing him, he fainted and remained senseless for many hours. He was reportedly questioned not about the issues relating to his cases but about other extra-judicial matters. The people in Bangladesh do generally believe that Mr Rahman has been the target mainly for his writings where he talked about the circumstances in which about 60 army officers were killed in February 2009 and also about the involvement of some very powerful persons in the current polity, in various financial irregularities. We most humbly request all to do whatever they can to for rescuing this uncompromising writer. |
__._,_.___
[Disclaimer: ALOCHONA Management is not liable for information contained in this message. The author takes full responsibility.]
To unsubscribe/subscribe, send request to alochona-owner@egroups.com
Your email settings: Individual Email|Traditional
Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required)
Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch to Fully Featured
Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe
Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required)
Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch to Fully Featured
Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe
__,_._,___