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SALEEM SAMAD
More than ten
blogs blacked out their sites in protest amidst series of government harassment
and arrests on pro-secular, anti-Islamist bloggers over allegations of being
“atheist” and accusing them for blasphemy.
The blogs homepage posted messages decrying
government’s crackdown on the blogging community.
“Muzzle Me Not,”
homepage of nagorikblog.com, states, “Resist and protest government’s appeasement
of fundamentalists — arrest and torture of bloggers — harassment of blog
platforms.”
Other blogs,
including Shachalayatan, Amarblog, Amar Bondhu, Muktangong, Mukto-mona,
Choturmatrik and Unmochon, echoed the same.
So far, law
enforcers have arrested four bloggers in the last three days, sparking
widespread criticism and outrage from different quarters, especially from the
blogging community.
Abu Mustafiz (m),
moderator of Unmochon blog said, “we have closed our sites in protest at the
arrest and harassment of bloggers and closing of blogs as part of a hateful
political ploy.”
However, Syeda
Gulshan Ferdous Jana, founder of SomeWhereInTheBlog,
Khaledur Rahman Shakil’s blog http://site.voiceofbangladesh.us/ and few others have disagreed to blackout their
homepage. They argue that at this crucial period of harassment, it is
imperative to have their blogs in cyberspace to inform the public. To inform is
also a social responsibility, Jana said.
Source: The Daily Star, April 5, 2013
Saleem Samad is an Ashoka Fellow (USA) and correspondent for Reporters Without Borders (RSF), a Paris based media freedom watchdog
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