The Shahbag porn master: The questions that need asking

The Criminal Investigation Department of police arrested three men for pornographic videos and photographs for foreign customers, and rescued a 13-year-old boy. The mastermind of the gang TIM Fakruzzaman alias Tipu Kibria, chairman of Sudhui Bangla Photography Society, used to sell the videos and photos through internet to his clients in Germany, USA, Australia, UK and Saudi Arabia, said CID officials yesterday at a press briefing in the capital. Tipu was arrested in Khilgaon on Tuesday.

The same day, the officials arrested Nurul Amin alias Nuru, who used to capture the videos, in his Mugdha residence and seized cameras, laptops and CDs containing a huge number of pornographic photos and videos involving several hundred boys. The boy was rescued from Nurul's house whom he lured with a job and later compelled to act in the videos. Shaharul Islam, who used to look after the transactions, was arrested in Gazipur. on Wednesday while another member, Nurul Islam, is absconding.

The CID started the investigation after the Interpol informed them about the gang a week ago.

The news was shocking for many since Tipu Kibria was a familiar writer of books for children. His juvenile horror series was to a great extent popular among children. He has published more than 55 books, of which most were for children and published from Sheba Publications.

Interestingly, he was a also a well known leader during the Shahbag protests back in 2013 (as shown from a picture on his facebook page. Tipu is with specs on the right). One might say that what has political support got to do with the crime? Others might say hate the crime, not the criminal. What I would like to allure to is the fact that pornographers like Tipu Kibria do not come together with a movement such as Shahbag that hosted derogatory reviled atheists such as Asif Mohiuddin and Omi Piyal in its front ranks and boasts of martyrs such as blogger Rajib Haider alias“Thaba Baba”(thaba baba was the online name used by Rajib Haider to write explicitly derogatory material concerning the Islamic religion and the prophet Mohammad on his blog at Nurani Chapa) via mere chance. It is said that birds of the same feathers flock together, and the denizens in Shahbag can be clearly categorized as being in general a lot without moral fibre and in possession of a sick mentality of varying degrees. Pornograph master Tipu Kibria is just another concrete example of another Shahbagi personality who just got exposed. He is also an example of why we need to ask questions of the Shahbagh movement, its motives and ends it was so shamelessly used to achieve, namely the hanging of political opponents of the present government under the guise of “trial of war criminals”. We need to ask these questions quickly, before more innocent lives are lost.