The Worldwide Protests for Free Expression in Bangladesh were a series of rallies outside Bangladeshi embassies and consulates to demand the release of four Bangladeshi bloggers who had been arrested on charges of blasphemy. The protests took place on 25 April – 2 May 2013 and were organised by the
Center for Inquiry
The Center for Inquiry (CFI) is a US nonprofit organization that works to mitigate belief in pseudoscience and the paranormal, as well as to fight the influence of religion in government.
History
The Center for Inquiry was established in 199 ...
(CFI),
American Atheists
American Atheists is a non-profit organization in the United States dedicated to defending the civil liberties of atheists and advocating complete separation of church and state. It provides speakers for colleges, universities, clubs, and the ...
, and the
International Humanist and Ethical Union
Humanists International (known as the International Humanist and Ethical Union, or IHEU, from 1952–2019) is an international non-governmental organisation championing secularism and human rights, motivated by secular humanist values. Found ...
.
Demonstrations were held in
Dhaka
Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city ...
, New York City, Washington, D.C., London, Ottawa and other cities around the world.
Secularists sought to express their solidarity with those jailed for speaking their minds about religion. Protesters drew attention to those who were being persecuted for exercising free speech, seeking to convince the international community to exert influence to have the bloggers set free by the Bangladeshi government.
Background
The events that sparked the rallies began during the
shahbag protest when Bangladeshis rallied on the streets to demand capital punishment for
Abdul Quader Molla
Abdul Quader Molla ( bn, আব্দুল কাদের মোল্লা; 14 August 1948 – 12 December 2013) was a Bangladeshi Islamist leader, writer, and politician of the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, who was convicted of war crimes and ...
, a war criminal of the
Bangladesh liberation war
The Bangladesh Liberation War ( bn, মুক্তিযুদ্ধ, , also known as the Bangladesh War of Independence, or simply the Liberation War in Bangladesh) was a revolution and War, armed conflict sparked by the rise of the Benga ...
and a leader of
Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami
Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami ( bn, বাংলাদেশ জামায়াতে ইসলামী, Bānglādēsh Jāmāyatē Islāmī, Bangladesh Islamic Assembly), previously known as Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh, or Jamaat for short, was ...
. During the protests,
Ahmed Rajib Haider
Ahmed Rajib Haider (died 15 February 2013) was a Bangladeshi atheist blogger. He used to blog in the blogging communities namely Somewhereinblog.net, Amarblog.com and Nagorikblog.com and used the pseudonym Thaba Baba.
On 15 February 2013, afte ...
, a blogger who was critical of Jamaat-e-Islami, was stabbed to death by Jamaat activists
Another controversial author, blogger & online activist named
Sunnyur Rahman, popularly known as 'Nastik Nobi' (Atheist Prophet) in the blog community, was also stabbed on 7 March 2013.
Members of hardline Muslim group, Hifazat-e-Islam, backed by Jamaat, began a violent protest demanding authorities enact harsh anti-blasphemy laws to punish those who insult Islam, calling the bloggers "anti-Islamic" and terming all participants of the shahbag movement "
atheists
Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no d ...
."
In response to these events, the government of Bangladesh set up a panel to monitor blasphemy on social media and blocked a number of blogs and websites.
Four bloggers were arrested for posting "anti-religious" comments on their blogs. Rasel Pervez, a science teacher, and Mashiur Rahman Biplob were arrested at their homes on 1 April 2013. Subrata Adhikari Shuvo, a masters student at the
University of Dhaka
The University of Dhaka (also known as Dhaka University, or DU) is a public research university located in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It is the oldest university in Bangladesh. The university opened its doors to students on July 1st 1921. Currently i ...
was arrested on the same day at his dormitory.
Asif Mohiuddin
Asif Mohiuddin (born 24 February 1984) is a Bangladeshi anti-islamic and secular activist, religious critic and feminist. In 2012, he won The Bobs-Best of Online Activism award from Deutsche Welle, who stated that "Asif's blog was one of t ...
was arrested on 3 April 2013 at his sister's home where he was staying after having been stabbed by Islamist fanatics in January.
The
compelled the Bengali blog ''
somewhereinblog.net
Somewhere in... blog (also known as Samu) is a Bengali language, Bengali blogging website. ''বাঁধ ভাঙার আওয়াজ'' or ''Voice of breaking obstacle'' is the slogan of the blog. It is the first public blogging site in Be ...
'' to remove the writings of Asif Mohiuddin.
The current blog page reads: "blog has been withdrawn or cancelled for violating terms and conditions" (transl.) The move was criticised by
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human r ...
,
Amnesty International
Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...
, the
Center for Inquiry
The Center for Inquiry (CFI) is a US nonprofit organization that works to mitigate belief in pseudoscience and the paranormal, as well as to fight the influence of religion in government.
History
The Center for Inquiry was established in 199 ...
,
Reporters Without Borders
Reporters Without Borders (RWB; french: Reporters sans frontières; RSF) is an international non-profit and non-governmental organization with the stated aim of safeguarding the right to freedom of information. It describes its advocacy as found ...
, the
Committee to Protect Journalists
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is an American independent non-profit, non-governmental organization, based in New York City, New York, with correspondents around the world. CPJ promotes press freedom and defends the rights of journa ...
, and several other bodies.
Prominent Bangladeshi blog sites organized the
2013 Bengali blog blackout
On 4 April 2013 (0700 GMT) all Bengali blogs were blacked out for an indefinite time to protest the arrest of four bloggers in Bangladesh (Moshiur Rahman Biplob, Rasel Parvez, Subrata Adhikari Shuvo and Asif Mohiuddin). The blackout was to back a ...
to protest the government's decision to arrest the bloggers. They were able to garner attention from western media, which eventually led the secularist and humanist bodies to organize the worldwide protests.
Parvez and Shuvo were released on bail on 12 May and Biplob on 12 June. Asif secured bail on 27 June after spending three months in jail.
Protests
The protests were organised by Michael De Dora, the director of the CFI's Office of Policy and the organization's representative to the U.N.,
and coordinated by
Avijit Roy
Avijit Roy ( bn, অভিজিৎ রায়; 12 September 1972 – 26 February 2015) was a Bangladeshi-American engineer, online activist, writer and blogger known for creating and administrating the ''Mukto-Mona'', an Internet community fo ...
, the founder of
Mukto-Mona
Mukto-Mona is a Bengali language blog for secularists, atheists, and freethinkers. It was founded by Avijit Roy who was subsequently killed by militants in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The attackers are believed to be members of Ansarullah Bangla Team.
His ...
, an independent site for free thinkers and skeptics of Bengali origin.
Maryam Namazie
Maryam Namazie ( fa, مریم نمازی; born 1966) is a British-Iranian secularist, communist and human rights activist, commentator, and broadcaster.
Early life
Most of her early work focused on refugee rights, especially in Sudan, Turkey, ...
, an Iranian-born activist, independently called for 25 April to be an international day to defend Bangladesh's bloggers and activists.
Many writers, activists, and prominent intellectuals around the world including
Taslima Nasrin
Taslima Nasrin (born 25 August 1962) is a Bangladeshi-Swedish writer, physician, feminist, secular humanist, and activist. She is known for her writing on women's oppression and criticism of religion. Some of her books are banned in Bangladesh ...
,
Hemant Mehta
Hemant Mehta (born February 25, 1983) is an American author, blogger, and atheist activist. Mehta is a regular speaker at atheist events, and has been a board member of charitable organizations such as the Secular Student Alliance and the Founda ...
,
PZ Myers
Paul Zachary Myers (born March 9, 1957) is an American biologist who founded and writes the ''Pharyngula'' science-blog. He is associate professor of biology at the University of Minnesota Morris (UMM) publicly expressed their solidarity and support.
See also
*
2013 Bengali blog blackout
On 4 April 2013 (0700 GMT) all Bengali blogs were blacked out for an indefinite time to protest the arrest of four bloggers in Bangladesh (Moshiur Rahman Biplob, Rasel Parvez, Subrata Adhikari Shuvo and Asif Mohiuddin). The blackout was to back a ...
*
Ahmed Rajib Haider
Ahmed Rajib Haider (died 15 February 2013) was a Bangladeshi atheist blogger. He used to blog in the blogging communities namely Somewhereinblog.net, Amarblog.com and Nagorikblog.com and used the pseudonym Thaba Baba.
On 15 February 2013, afte ...
*
Avijit Roy
Avijit Roy ( bn, অভিজিৎ রায়; 12 September 1972 – 26 February 2015) was a Bangladeshi-American engineer, online activist, writer and blogger known for creating and administrating the ''Mukto-Mona'', an Internet community fo ...
References
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Internet-related activism
Internet-based and online protests
Internet censorship
2013 in Bangladesh
2013 protests
Atheism rallies