Bangladesh publishers, in show of solidarity, vow not to be cowed down by terror threats

Publishers speaking at an international seminar in Dhaka have vowed not to be daunted by attacks on them by terror outfits.

On Friday, a galaxy of leading national and international publishers also voiced concerns against various hindrances against free expression being imposed on them in various parts of the world by policymakers.

The seminar was inaugurated by the prime minister’s political advisor, HT Imam.

At the opening Bangladesh Gyan O Srijonshil Prokashok Association President Osman Goni said, ‘’Freethinking people are being murdered one after the other in the country. Recently Jagriti publication’s Faisal Arefin Dipan was murdered.’’

‘’But publishers are least daunted by this. We shall not bow our heads to these aggressively communal forces,’’ he said.

On Oct 31, 2015, publisher Ahmed Rashid Tutul was attacked in his office. He survived the attack. But publisher Dipan who was attacked at the same time at his Shahbagh office did not survive a similar attack.

Prior to this, in February last year, writer Avijit Roy was hacked to death by suspected terrorists while he was returning from the Amar Ekushey Book Fair. Both Dipan and Tutul published Avijit’s books.

About 50 bloggers, activists, freethinkers, non-Muslim priests, Buddhist monks and others have fallen prey to similar attacks within the last year and a half.

Although Middle East-based terror outfits have claimed responsibility after each such attack, government officials and security agencies have blamed ‘home-grown’ terror outfits like JMB and Ansarullah Bangla Team for the attacks.

International Publishers’ Association (IPA) president Richard Charkin described the Bangladeshis as book-loving people and called on publishers to create an environment in which writers and poets could write without fear.

The IPA works in over 50 countries and emphasises such issues as freethinking, exchange of ideas and thoughts, copyrights etc, said IPA Director Ben Stuart.

‘’Speaking of publication in Bangladesh, one must allude to the hindrances on freethinking here. A few freethinking writers have become victims at the hands of fundamentalist elements,’’ he said.

During the inaugural session, a small note from publisher Tutul who survived a terror attack was read out.

The note said, “Jagriti publication’s Faisal Arefin Dipan, who became a victim of fundamentalist forces for publishing freethinking books, is present by his absence in today’s seminar.”

President of the event, Dhaka University Professor Emeritus Anisuzzaman said, “Censorship begins to impose restrictions on freedom of publishing at the very beginning.’’

Observing that many bloggers, writers and publishers have become victims of terror attacks of fundamentalists, he said that these elements have decided that murder is the only way forward. He said that the bulk of the people of the country is however beyond such narrowness.

Seminar inaugurator HT Imam however felt that the publishing industry in Bangladesh was thriving despite all odds. 

“The industry is even spreading into rural areas of the country,’’ he said.

He also cautioned publishers to be careful while engaging in religious discussions and added that freedom does not imply unlimited license.

He also called on the publishers not to concentrate on the Bengali language alone but to invest attention also in other languages used in the country.

Cultural Affairs Secretary Akhtari Mumtaz said that the government is alive to the various problems of the publishers. She added that the government will not provide registrations if publishers are found guilty of illegalities.

Bangla Academy Director General Shamsuzzaman Khan said that writers in the country have the freedom to write on any topic but pointed out that criticisms and inflammatory writings on Prophet Muhammad have not been tolerated in the country and would never be tolerated in the future. He said that communally provocative writings are not tolerated in the country.

The first session was held after the inaugural session.

The session entitled ‘Freedom in the area of publication’ was presided over by Liberation War Museum Trustee Mofidul Hoque.

Commerce ministry’s Senior Secretary Hedayetullah Al Mamun, litterateur and Dhaka University Professor Syed Manjurul Islam, and Awami League Presidium Member Nuh-Ul-Alam Lenin participated in the session.

The welcome speech was delivered by Gyan o Srijonshil Publisher’s Association executive director Kamrul Hasan Shayok.

On the concluding day of the seminar on Saturday, three sessions will be held. These sessions will concentrate on areas like internationalizing national publications, women in publication and regional cooperation in publishing.

bdnews24.com Senior Editor and Arts Editor poet Muhammad Nurul Huda will preside over the first session on Saturday. The session is titled Internationalization of National Publishers.

State Minister for ICT Zunaid Ahmed Palak is expected to be present at the concluding ceremony.