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.            

Daily Star makes another mountain out of a bacterium called Shahbag

The Daily Star has a history of making mountains out of molehills. This time was no exception. This was the link: http://www.thedailystar.net/beta2/news/thousands-gather-at-shahbagh/ in which the Daily Star initially said "thousands had gathered in shahbagh" (the article link is proof enough) while a modified article later said that " Hundreds gather at Shahbag."

One would have expected that a notable news outlet such as the Daily Star would have published a set of pictures or even one picture to substantiate the claim? Well apparently they didn't have the guts. So they published a picture from as far back as February 15 when the pastures around Shahbag looked less concrete and more fleshy and people were more foolish enough to believe anything a puppet called Imran H Sarker had to blabber on about the ghastly Jamaat and its stance against In(dia-d)ependent Bangladesh.

So what was Shahbag actually like? Lets have a panorama sneak peak :p

Yet to count to a thousand? You are not alone. Photo from 10th December evening.

'Thousands crowding Shahbag". Photo by Mohammad Munshi on 11th December at 11:30 am.

Shahbag bus incident was carried out by the Awami League: A case study

The nation was rendered shocked at the incident by which a bus at Shahbag was firebombed, leaving 3 bus passengers dead till date and rendering more than 18 passengers with severe burn injuries on the evening of Thursday the 28^th of November, 2013, the last day of the blockade program two weeks ago. The incident was blamed on the opposition by the government, and the smear campaign by government affiliated media (which sadly includes about 90% of the currently operational print and television media) that followed was intense to the point that people were force fed the fact that this was a work of the opposition. However, details have begun emerging, which not only question the prevalent assumptions of who were behind this attack, but point strong fingers at government involvement as well. Let us examine some of them:

1.     The bus service that was affected in the arson attack was the “Bihanga Paribahan” , which belongs to Pankaj Devnath, a leading Awamileague leader. Now one may ask, so what if Pankaj Devnath is a leading Awami League leader? There is strong evidence to suggest that Pankaj Devnath may have collaborated with Awami League cadres to have his own bus set on fire. Right after the arson attack, Pankaj Devnath, the General Secretary of Sweccha Shebok League, an affiliate organization of the Awami League, was declared the Awami League candidate for the Barisal-4 constituency, replacing the previous Awami League candidate Saidul Islam, the AL President of the Mehengonj in Barisal. Was this some kind of reward?

1. The same Bihanga Paribahan has been accused in a previous incident where a bus of the service ran into Khaleda Zia’s vehicle. This is a link of that incident in Bangla.

3.     Despite the presence of heavy police patrol, no one was caught from the premises of the incident that day. It is mentionable that police were present at eight points around the incident area-  in front of the Press Club, roundabout in front of National Eidgah, in front of the Foreign Ministry, Ramna Gate beside Motsho Bhaban, in front of the Engineers Institute, in front of the Shishu Park and at the Shahbag intersection. Police were of course, also present at Shahbag Police Station. They were positioned such that it would take less than a minute for the police force to reach the spot of the arson attack. Yet they were unable to do. 

4.     Strong evidence points to the involvement of the Nanak-Azam outfit. One of the people who petrol bombed the bus was identified as Jubo League cadre Masud, a close associate of Jahangir Kabir Nanak. Rasheda, a passenger of that bus, was a witness to the above claim. A resident of 16 no. slum at Adabor, Rasheda is a cleaner at a pathological lab in Dhaka. Her mobile number is 01818069026. Rasheda informed that due to previous acquaintance, she had witnessed Masud throwing a petrol bomb at the bus and that she had informed the police.  A reporter of a popular television channel had confirmed that Rasheda had narrated this incident to him in an interview. However police were found to back off from further investigation of the matter after getting wind of the involvement of AL leader Nanak. Instead, high level BNP leaders were accused and implicated, leaving no room to imagination on whether this was anything but a well planned government conspiracy.

Add to this mix up recent news of Ruling Awami League leaders Jahangir Kabir Nanak and Mirza Azam have been cleared of all charges over a 2004 arson case in which 11 were killed. Notice the timing.  It is just at this moment as if the government wants everyone to know that these two are certified ‘good politicians’. All this despite videos leaked some time ago where veteran politician Obaidul Kader confesses to the guilt of the Awami League in the bus arson incident and the involvement of Sheikh Hasina herself along with the Juboleague top brass.

Shahbag spearheads cheap politics with dead BCL cadre Dip

A third-year student of mechanical engineering and BUET unit Chhatra League convening committee member, Arif Raihan Dip, died at about 4:00am in Square Hospitals in the capital on the 3rd of July 2013. He had been unconscious since he had been stabbed him in his room at the Kabi Nazrul Islam Hall on April 9. He was sent to Dhaka Medical College Hospital in a critical condition and was later was moved to Square Hospitals.

Arif Raihan Dip Source: Daily Star

The media spin:

This is how the media described Dip’s attack-

1. Newage says, “An unnamed man had stabbed him in his room at the Kabi Nazrul Islam Hall on April 9.”

2. Daily Star says, “An unidentified man dragged Dwip down the hall’s stairs and stabbed him indiscriminately on April 9.”

3. Bdnews, in a more dramatic tone, claims, “Finally the miscreants attacked Dip in his dormitory on Apr 9 and left him severely wounded in his head and back.”

4. In the most dramatic tone, mixing unverifiable witness accounts into the factual description, the Dhaka Tribune claims, “According to witnesses, four youths hacked Dwip in his room, located in the Kobi Nazrul Islam Hall, using sharp weapons at around 11am on April 9.”

All media were unanimous in planning the seed of doubt, when they quoted Chatra League leaders pinning the blame on usual suspects. The Dhaka Tribune deserves credit for being the most (mis)informative when it says, “Although the assailants could not be recognised, Arif’s friends said they suspect members of Islami Chhatra Shibir or Hefazat-e-Islam of being responsible.”

The motive:

New Age reports that Raihan is said to have been attacked as he along with some other students stopped an imam of a hall mosque providing Hefazat-e-Islam activists with food during their long march to Dhaka on April 5. The imam, Abdul Alim, was suspended immediately as the students informed the university’s student welfare director Delwar Hossain of the matter.

Bdnews starts playing around with the motive when it states, “ The assault followed hearsay that he along with some other students had barred an imam of one of the hall mosques from supplying food to Hifazat-e Islam activists during their long march to Dhaka on Apr 6. Later, the Imam, Abdul Alim was suspended.”

Other media did not care to report on the matter.

A past history of violence:

Although ‘progressive’ news media did not hesitate to identify Dip as being some sort of a hero, his documented past is not so rosy. This was the same Dip who was suspended for being involved in attacks on general students just about a year ago. As reported by bdnews, following a dispute on Dec 28 2011, between the senior and junior batches over entering a concert organised for the rag day of the outgoing batch, 2008 batch students Saifullah Sikder Mithun and Sujit Saha of the Material and Metallurgical Department and 2009 batch student Arif Raihan Dip of the Mechanical Engineering Department.  on Dec 31 2011, beat Tousif Ahmed Ishan, a final-year student of the Computer Science and Engineering Department with hockey sticks and iron rods in his room in the Kazi Nazrul Islam Hall, leaving him with severe injuries in his both hands and legs. BUET unit Chhatra League general secretary Tonmoy Ahmed had said though the three accused were his fellow party activists, his party was not involved in the attack. They would be expelled from the party, he had added.  BUET students organised protests on the campus to demand that authorities permanently expel the three students who are accused of beating Ishan.

Not only was Dip reinstated into the university within a short period of time, he was also reinstated into the Chatra League itself and was a Chhatra League convening committee member on the eve of his attack on the imam.

A victim?

The Detective Branch arrested fourth-year civil engineering student Md Mezbah Uddin on April 18 at the campus in this connection. The police said that Mezbah had confessed to attacking Raihan in the hall. Mezbah is reported to have told investigators that Raihan had beaten the BUET mosque imam for providing Hefazat activists with food on April 5. However, NO connections to Hefazat OR Bangladesh Islami Chatra shibir have been even remotely suggested by police or proved by anyone.

The supposed ‘confession’ of Mezbah is also subject to controversy in the current climate of fear stemming from a plethora of well documented police excesses in Bangladesh. Add to this the fact that the Lalbagh police seized a bag containing a machete, a pair of pajamas, a panjabi and a cap from the Kobi Nazrul Hall and you get the idea as to where we are all headed to.

Shahbag plays cheap politics:

Shahbagh protesters bring out a procession in Dhaka on Tuesday protesting at the death of BUET student Arif Raihan Dwip three months after he was hacked by a fellow. — New age photo

Dhaka Tribune and New Age reported that Shahbagh protesters, meanwhile, held protests in the Shahbagh crossing on Tuesday evening demanding an immediate arrest of the attackers, blaming Shibir and Hefazat activists for the attack. They were led by Convener of the Ganajagaran Mancha, Imran H Sarkar and coordinator Maruf Rasul. The protesters from the programme accused Hefazat-e-Islam of making the attack on Dwip that took his life. This of course seriously raises concerns as to whether Shahbag really has turned into a haven for anti-Islamic hatred and partisan politics (the Chatra League is and a driving force at Shahbag and it is the student.body of the ruling Awami League)

So the question remains, is the death of a well known miscreant going to be just another manufactured scenario to further fuel the Islamophobic narrative actively sponsored by the government of Bangladesh?