Bangladesh is going through a difficult time in its history. State sponsored oppression has reached new heights. Police, ideally the saviour of the oppressed; the harbingers of the law, have become tools of oppression. Human rights in their hands have become akin to meaningless slogans, not values to be respected and preserved. Sadly, majority of the media have remained strangely silent. Anyone reporting the injustice has been looked down upon. Media talking out against the injustice have even had their offices set on fire. Many journalists have been arrested for their association with such media.
In the midst of all this, a knight in shining armour has emerged, not from aristocratic origins or foreign exotic lands, but from among the general population. Students and intellectuals who feel that keeping silent is not an option. With the love of hundreds and thousands of fans, the facebook page Basherkella has transformed itself from being a simple facebook group reporting acts of government injustice and excesses to an icon of resistance against the government oppression right now in Bangladesh.
The path to the love of thousands has not been filled with roses. The government has previously blocked Basherkella twice. The first time was on the 12th of February 2013 when Basherkella was blocked along with 12 other blogs and facebook pages on vague charges that betrayed the sinister motives of the government. At that time the membership was about 43000 followers. The page was resurrected again to keep the world informed of the fact that although the media had become silent on the issue of government oppression, the people had not. Basherkella remained faithful where others went quiet as real time updates of the sufferings of the people of Bangladesh at the hands of the government were laid bare for the world to see. In this light the page was again blocked, this time on the 7th of March 2013. The number of followers this time was at about 124000.
The comeback was phenomenal as the new page opened on that very day garnered about 24000 likes in a mere three hours!
In the midst of all this, a knight in shining armour has emerged, not from aristocratic origins or foreign exotic lands, but from among the general population. Students and intellectuals who feel that keeping silent is not an option. With the love of hundreds and thousands of fans, the facebook page Basherkella has transformed itself from being a simple facebook group reporting acts of government injustice and excesses to an icon of resistance against the government oppression right now in Bangladesh.
The path to the love of thousands has not been filled with roses. The government has previously blocked Basherkella twice. The first time was on the 12th of February 2013 when Basherkella was blocked along with 12 other blogs and facebook pages on vague charges that betrayed the sinister motives of the government. At that time the membership was about 43000 followers. The page was resurrected again to keep the world informed of the fact that although the media had become silent on the issue of government oppression, the people had not. Basherkella remained faithful where others went quiet as real time updates of the sufferings of the people of Bangladesh at the hands of the government were laid bare for the world to see. In this light the page was again blocked, this time on the 7th of March 2013. The number of followers this time was at about 124000.
The comeback was phenomenal as the new page opened on that very day garnered about 24000 likes in a mere three hours!
Today, Basherkella is again under
threat. The government on Wednesday, the 10th of April, asked the
Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) to intensify
monitoring on a facebook page and a blog site and to block these if any
objectionable content gets posted there. Additional Secretary Mainuddin
Khandaker of home ministry said “BTRC has been asked to monitor every post on
Facebook page Basherkella and blog site –Nurani Chapa Samagra. We also urged
print and electronic media not to publish any posts or contents from blog-sites
and social online sites without taking prior permission from the concern
persons"
It is sad to note that Basherkella, a champion of truth and justice, is being viewed on a similar plane to Nurani Chapa Samagra, a site which is known to carry indecent remarks against Islam and Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh).
I condemn the actions of the government and urge it to refrain from closing down the page in the name of 'monitoring'. It is time the government needs to look within itself to right the wrongs, not look outside. The enemy is within.
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