4 'atheist bloggers' arrested upto now: Everchanging drama in light of April 6 long march

Something seems fishy. Everybody knows by now that the government has arrested 3 atheist 'bloggers' in the name of arresting defamers of Allah, Mohammad (S.A.W) and Islam. However, few in the online realm know of them and the initial lukewarm response that the arrest of these 'bloggers' managed to get out from Shahbag speaks a lot. It is mentionable that previously 2 cases against eight bloggers filed at Chittagong and Barishal have been dismissed and rejected by the courts. None of the 8 bloggers mentioned in the above cases had been subject to arrests on that day. 

That seems to have changed today. Asif Mohiuddin, a well known Islam defaming atheist blogger, was arrested today at Segunbagicha in the capital. Daily Star reports that,"A team of Detective Branch (DB) of police picked up Mohiuddin around 2:00pm, said Masudur Rahman, deputy commissioner (public relation) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police." Asif Mohiuddin is a blogger well known for his derogatory remarks against Islam and has received threats for his status and blog posts. It was not clear whether Asif was arrested for his blog posts or for the purpose of protective custody.

All these actions have come up on the eve of the long march program called by Hefazat-e-Islam in order to push for death penalty for Islam defaming atheist bloggers along with other demands in their 13 points demand declared a few days ago. Hefazat have dismissed these steps as 'puny' and not amounting to punishment of the real culprits.  

That may or may not change with the arrest of Asif Mohiuddin. Charges by the government against Asif Mohiuddin have yet to be brought up, but the situation has already become clear in the sense that these selective arrests are widely seen as political moves. The main opposition BNP has already iterated so. The Daily Star makes that clear when it says, "The arrests, however, could not appease Hefajat-e Islam which, together with other radical Islamist groups, has been campaigning against the Shahbagh protests."

What I am worried of is the other side of the story. The side which the pro-government newspapers are relatively quiet about. The Daily Star, at the last part of its report on the arrests of the 3 'bloggers', quotes Law Minister Shafique Ahmed while reporting that,"He added that the government had taken steps to try the newspapers that had misled people by publishing distorted pictures of the Gilaf (cover) of Holy Kaba." These remarks are an indirect reference to reports allegedly published by pro-opposition news agencies. The Daily had earlier reported on the matter too, saying, "The news item was posted in a Facebook page purported to be of a Bangla daily. Similar stories were found in three newspapers known to be supporters or mouthpieces of the BNP, Jamaat and other Islamist groups. One of the dailies after publishing this news in its print edition removed the item from its website without running a correction. The website of another daily used the news item only to remove it later with apology to its readers. Another newspaper took no step after running it in its print and web versions." 

Although the report mentions that the news agencies had either withdrawn or apologized for the report, the Law minister's remarks foretell of a probable twist that may even see the curbing of press freedom by leading to a clampdown on opposition newspapers. Only time will tell what will happen, but the previous records of the Awami League using Shahbag to whimsically change laws to 'reflect' the 'public opinion' do not bode well for near future in light of this rapidly changing political drama.

After all, mean-minded consipracy and conniving is what Sheikh Hasina and her government has proved to be excellent at.

Bangladesh Police: Reaping the rewards of oppression

Police are being beaten. Police are being attacked. Police are being forced to fire. Police are being chased. Pro-government and complicit media are usually awash with such heart rendering news of law enforcers being subject to such severe instances of violence. As a citizen of the state, it hurts me. Attacking law enforcers is highly undesirable act by itself and should never be condoned. Police are after all, human beings of flesh and blood. 

Getting dewy eyed? Bear with me.

I say that opposition supporters are human beings of flesh and blood too. I say that just like the 5 police men who died after the 28th of February 2013, more than 100 people died too. Real people who lost their lives not at the hands of natural causes or old age, but at the hands of none other than the police. Police who were seen firing into crowds; who were seen aiming at protesters in an almost leisurely casual manner. Police who killed men, women and children.

But why, one may ask?

The answer is not difficult to find. Consider this. A policeman, DC Harun, was given the President's Police Medal through showing gallantry by beating a Member of Parliament. Another policeman, ADC Mehedi Hasan, led a raid into BNP headquarters and arrested over 150 activists. BNP filed a case against some 500 policemen, accusing them of illegal entry, vandalism and loot during Monday’s police raid on its Naya Paltan headquarters. including two officials, accusing them of illegal entry, vandalism and loot during Monday’s police raid on its Naya Paltan headquarters. The case was rejected outright by the court. Mehedi Hasan was instead awarded with a vacation with his family to Singapore, paid by the government. Forget any accountability, the cloak of impunity just engulfs it all. More audacious the oppression, greater the rewards.

So, are all police awarded?

Unfortunately, no. Take the case of the policemen who were observed to be lenient in culling Jamaat-Shibir activists during the nationwide strikes called after the verdict of Delwar Hossain Sayedee on the 28th of February. A home ministry order was passed on the 24th of March to withdraw 24 police officers including a deputy inspector general (DIG) according to a decision by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) based on several allegations including violation of chain of command and mysteriously poor performance during the anarchy created by Jamaat-Shibir.

It is clear that the government has been following the policy of carrots and sticks in order to guide the police to carry out its dirty work. Home Minister Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir, the man with the reigns, has not helped at all. He has been caught giving orders to shoot opposition workers. You'd think all human rights organizations would hate him. You are clearly wrong. The fellow has even received an award from a self styled human rights organization for his record in championing human rights!

A proverb says it all. You reap what you sow. Violence begets violence. As long as the government uses the police to do its dirty work and as long as the police allow themselves to be used as pawns in an exceedingly dirty political game, the cycle of violence will only propagate. 

Its high time the government takes appropriate confidence building steps fast. Steps that do not include arresting and killing opposition activists or extremely foolish ones like arresting the Shibir central President. Barring that, it will only have itself to blame for the repercussions.

Dr Farid Uddin Ahmed: Facing the Tune of Theatrical Autocracy

Listen my friends to the story of a human being. A human being facing injustice at the hands of justice. Dr. Farid Uddin Ahmed is an ophthalmologist by profession and a distinguished philanthropist. Resident of Kaderabad Housing Society at Mohammadpur, Dr. Farid was, incidentally, also the ex-ameer of Jamaat-e-Islami at Madaripur. On the 12th of March, he went to offer his Maghrib prayers at the mosque in the Housing Society and did not return. Fearing the worst, his family filed a General Diary (GD No. 865) the next day at Mohammadpur police station. Allegations rose that he had been secretly nabbed by Detective Branch, the special branch of police, whose headquarters are situated at Mintu Road in Dhaka. Family sources say that tracking his mobile phone number revealed that he was located at Mintu Road. However, when contacted via different sources, the law enforcement agencies repeatedly denied any involvement in his disappearance. Thirteen days passed. A report was published by the news daily Naya Diganta which detailed the circumstances of his disappearance, presenting statements by the family of Dr. Farid. It was a reiteration of the fact that he was still missing. There was still no response from the law agencies. It was a Friday (29th of March), when the world came to know of Dr. Farid's whereabouts after 18 days of his disappearance.

Said the Daily Star, "Police in the capital have arrested 12 alleged militants, including a former Jamaat leader and an Afghan war veteran, with bombs, bomb-making materials and Tk 1.29 crore in fake Indian currency. Of the 12, all arrested on Friday night, one is a former Islami Chhatra Shibir leader and the rest are members of different terrorist outfits like Harkatul Jihad al Islami (Huji) and Harkatul Mujahideen and Allah’r Dal. In a separate drive the same night, the Detective Branch of police arrested four Pakistani nationals with fake 6.3 million Indian rupees. Briefing newsmen, DB Joint Commissioner Monirul Islam said the arrested Bangladeshis were preparing for subversive activities, including attacks on public gatherings and eminent personalities.To remain financially secure, they were counterfeiting money in coordination with the Pakistani nationals.

The seizure also includes eight hand-made bombs, $400 in cash, 4,000 Pakistani rupees and seven passports — four Pakistani and three Bangladeshi. DB officials said they first arrested former Madaripur district Jamaat unit Ameer Dr Farid Uddin Ahammad, 55, Afghan war veteran Farid Uddin Masud, 35, former Shibir cadre Mizanur Rahman, 31, and militant activist Mahfuzur Rahman, 23, at a house on Free School Street, Kathal Bagan, with bombs and bomb-making materials."

So Dr. Farid was now 'officially connected' to Huji, Harkatul Mujahideen and Allah'r Dal. As usual, it was hailed by pro-government cum anti-Jamaat media as being Godsend, and as one version of the story morphed into another, the story of Dr. Farid Uddin Masud got more and more outlandish as the statements made during the DB briefing turned into 'established facts'. Take this line from the Financial Express, "The arrested Jamaat leader, an eye specialist, Dr Farid Uddin Ahmed, took training on militancy in Pakistan.", or this line from the Daily Sun, " He (Dr. Farid Uddin) also formed an Islamic party styled 'Allar Dal' and was involved in destructive activities in different parts of the country", and you get the picture.

The synchronization of events seemed to be in such perfection that it all seemed to ring true. Except that one tiny detail was missing. None of these triumphant news agencies mentioned that Dr. Farid was actually reported missing or that the family of Dr. Farid had filed a GD in this respect. Except of course the good old pro-opposition news agencies (what would we ever do without them?).

Further injustice was to follow. As reported by the New Age, a metropolitan magistrate on Friday remanded those 16 people including ophthalmologist Dr. Farid in police custody for different periods in three cases filed with three police stations. The metropolitan magistrate, Joynab Begum, rejected the bail petition filed by six arrested Jamaat and Chhatra Shibir leaders while none attended in the remand hearing for rest of the ten arrested. The defence counsel, Abdur Razzque, who stood for arrested Farid Uddin Ahmed and five others, told the court that his client ophthalmologist Farid Uddin of Madaripur was picked up by the Detectives in Mohammadpur area on March 12. He submitted to court a copy of general diary and paper cutting of a national daily in support of his claim. Razzque said that a detective team brought him to his house in Mohammadpur at about 4:00am on Saturday. The defence counsel, sought court instruction for illegally detaining his client for 18 days. But the court remanded Farid Uddin Ahmed, also a senior Jamaat leader, and five others for three days each in police remand in one of the three cases filed with Kalabagan police station under explosive substances act. The court also remanded for seven days each the four Pakistani nationals who were, according to police, arrested at Baitus Samir Hotel at Bangshal in the early hours of Saturday. 

New Age took the brave step to look deeper into the myth of Dr. Farid's arrest on Friday. The report, in a useful addition, said , "However, Farid’s friend Ehtesham, also a physician, claimed to reporters recently that the DB police picked him up on March 12 from a mosque at Mohammadpur and they lodged a general diary with Mohammadpur Police Station after this." 

Reflect on the above and you don't need a political or judicial analyst to tell you that most glaring is the fact that the security forces are still in denial over the fact that Farid Uddin Ahmed was ever absent for 18 days. The whimsical denial of the metropolitan magistrate to give any consideration to Dr. Farid's case of disappearance points to a simple case of denial of justice. Appalling as it may seem, most of the media have followed suit and have chosen to ignore this fact and simply remain silent. 

Condone the silence and denial and all you will do is loudly condone injustice. Stand up and speak out. Its time to speak up and #savebangladesh