Imran poses six questions

The Ganajagaran Mancha spokesperson Imran H Sarker has criticised the arrests of three bloggers and the government measures against blogs.

He has also raised six questions following the arrest of Subrata Adhikari Shuvo, Mashiur Rahman Biplob and Rasel Parvez over so-called ‘blasphemous’ write-ups.

Sarker, one of the organisers of Ganajagaran Mancha demanding death to war criminals and a ban on the Jamaat-e-Islami, on Tuesday said the arrest was a blow to the freedom of expression.

Police detained the three on Monday night while the government shut down ‘Amarblog’ where they were writing.

Bloggers and Online Activists Network began the Shahbagh-centred movement on Feb 5, the day when International Crimes Tribunal-2 awarded life term to Jamaat Assistant Secretary General Abdul Quader Molla, terming the sentence ‘too lenient’ compared with the crimes he committed during the 1971 Liberation War.

With the participation of thousands of people and many student and cultural organisations, the movement was later named Ganajagaran Mancha.

The arrest of the bloggers was made amid accusations of blasphemy against Imran and other bloggers and demand for their punishment by an organisation, Hifazat-e-Islami.

Hifazat is planning to stage a long-march on Apr 6 demanding capital punishment to ‘atheist bloggers’.

On Tuesday, four days ahead of the long-march, the government said immediate actions would be taken against those hurting religious sentiments.

Earlier, the government formed a blog monitoring committee.

Imran Sarker said on Tuesday: “The nation saw how the law enforcers arrested the three bloggers at night. This is unprecedented in an independent and sovereign country,”

“I’m asking the government, how such an obstruction to freedom of expression can be constitutional.”

“It’s agonising for the youth and the nation when the government, imbued with the spirit of digital Bangladesh, shuts blogs for write-ups of some individuals.”

Imran claimed that the blog monitoring committee (of the government) does not have clear ideas about the internet and blogs. “Two religious scholars are in the committee, but there is no blogger,” he said.

Imran posed six questions for the state.

1. When Jamaat-Shibir spreads ‘Moududi’ idealism on Facebook and that action put Islam under question, what happens to the state’s religious sentiment then?

2. When Jamaat vandalises and sets mosques on fire, does their (state) sense of religious sentiment go to hibernation?

3. When Jamaat and Shibir supporters threatened to kill religious scholars of Chittagong, why is the religious sentiment of the state absent then?

4. When Jamaat and Shibir attack the police mercilessly, kill them, burn doctors to death and threaten civil war, why does the state not form an investigation committee then? Is the state not hurt then?

5. When Jamaat and Shibir create anarchy through shutdowns and push country towards unrest, when they publish blasphemous contents from the small periphery of blogs, why does the state not form a probe panel then?

6. When Jamaat and Shibir spread propaganda against Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the Liberation War online and in blogs, why the Grand Alliance government is silent then? Till date, has the government taken any steps against distortion of history on Bangabandhu, four national leaders, freedom fighters and the Liberation War?

Movements will continue

Imran announced that despite adversities, the Ganajagaran Mancha would continue seeking a ban on Jamaat and capital punishment to war criminals.

On opinions coming from National Executive Committee of the ruling Awami League suggesting Ganajagaran Mancha be stopped, he said the Mancha was a result of spontaneous participation of the people. “The movement will not stop on anyone’s orders.”

“It doesn’t matter who is hard and who is soft. We’ll continue util our demands are met,” Imran said.

He alleged that accusation of blasphemy has been brought to thwart the ongoing movement.

“It could have been determined first by investigation whether blogs were hurting religious sentiments and then actions could have been taken. But the arrest of bloggers without any investigation is not right for the government.”

He called for an investigation to determine whether the bloggers actually wrote those contents or not, or whether anyone else used their names.