BTRC shuts down 'pro-Jamaat' blog

Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) on Saturday shut down the ‘Sonar Bangla’ blog, known to have been operated by pro-Jamaat-e-Islami activists, following demand from the demonstrators at Shahbagh after their compatriot Ahmed Rajib Haider was found murdered on Friday.

BTRC Assistant Director (Media Wing) Jakir Hossain Khan told bdnews24.com: “The blog site has been shut down since Saturday noon.”

BTRC directed all International Internet Gateway (IIG) operators to close the Sonar Bangla blog earlier in the day, he said.

Blogger and online activist Ahmed Rajib Haider was found murdered near his Palashnagar residence at the capital’s Mirpur on Friday night.

His family and friends blamed it on the activists of the Jamaat-e-Islami and its students’ wing, the Islami Chhatra Shibir as he had been blogging against their activities which made him a possible “target” of the religion-based organisation for his interpretation of Islam from the standpoint of a self-proclaimed atheist.

Online activists and protesters said that Rajib also received threats on his life through various online posts. One such threat was posted in "Sonar Bangla". They are convinced that the Jamaat and Shibir are behind Rajib’s assasination.

Meanwhile, the protesters at Shahbagh on Saturday vowed, in the name of Rajib, to continue with their demand seeking capital punishment for all war criminals, until death.

Rajib was one of the voices that echoed the demand of the millions over the past 12 days.