Young Bangladeshi women raise their fists at a protest in Shahbagh. Credit: Kajal Hazra/IPS

By Naimul Haq
DHAKA, Mar 21 2013 (IPS)

“This is a revolution,” declares Mamtaj Jahan Halima, a young law student from Bangladesh’s southwestern Khulna district. “People of all ages, irrespective of religion, caste and culture have united – we have not witnessed such a peaceful uprising since before independence.”

Surrounded by thousands of protestors at a massive rally in the capital, Dhaka — a common sight in Bangladesh these days — Halima has travelled over 300 kilometres to come here in the hopes of adding her voice to a growing call to ban radical Islamist groups, hang accused war criminals and install a secular government.

Though they did not live through the 1971 liberation war – as the independence movement is known here – the young university students coming out in droves evoke memories of a glorious past, when the people of what was then East Pakistan rose up to overthrow the occupying West Pakistan military junta and establish an independent Bangladesh.

“Hang the War Criminals”, say the placards bobbing above a sea of heads in Shahbagh Square, the neighbourhood in Dhaka that saw the first wave of protests on Feb. 5, shortly after the International Crimes Tribunal handed down a sentence of life imprisonment – rather than the much anticipated death penalty – to Abdul Quader Mollah, charged with crimes against humanity during the 1971 struggle.

While the immediate demand of the peaceful, non-partisan movement — which in the last two months has spread to other cities around the country — is punishment for “war criminals”, the core issue holding the students and activists together is the call for a secular democracy in Bangladesh and a ban on religious fundamentalist groups like Jamaat-e-Islami, and its students wing, Shibir.

The largest opposition Islamic party in the country, Jamaat’s current leaders today stand accused of atrocities committed on behalf of the Pakistan army against the pro-independence movement in 1971.

Chanting slogans and marching alongside thousands of fellow demonstrators at the Shahbagh junction, Chaity Mazumder, the daughter of a martyred freedom fighter, told IPS, “Thousands of freedom fighters sacrificed their lives to build a secular nation and we vow to achieve (their) goals.”

Like the Arab Spring and the Occupy Movement before it, the Shahabag protests were sparked by a few hundred online activists urging people to take to the streets. Now, this new generation has declared it will wrest the country’s future from the hands of radical Islamists.

History of radicalisation

The Jamaat-e-Islami has long been enmeshed in Bangladesh’s political sphere. Following the assassination of the country’s first president, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, on Aug. 15, 1975, Jamaat leaders began to spread their influence.

Today the Jamaat is a key ally of the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), founded by Ziaur Rahman who opened the door to radical Islamists in a bid to secure his position in 1975.

Extremist groups found an ideal base among scores of impoverished people struggling to survive in the fledgling nation, and not long after terrorist outfits emerged as a means of subduing the population.

“It was General Zia who gave licence to such extremist groups to operate,” Shahriar Kabir, a noted writer and human rights activist here, told IPS. “In an ordinance in 1976 Zia legalised 66 such pro-Pakistan Islamist parties.”

A slew of terrorist attacks over three decades include the aborted attempt in August 2004 to assassinate Sheikh Hasina, then leader of the opposition and current Prime Minister of Bangladesh; the killing of former Finance Minister SAMS Kibria; the May 2004 failed grenade attack on former British High Commissioner Anwar Choudhury; as well as a series of bomb blasts in public places that have killed thousands of innocent people, according to government sources.

“We have had enough of Islamist militancy,” said Tabbassum Ara Begum, a 20-year-old college student from the southern Barisal district. “We were silent observers for 42 years. Now we have a platform of ordinary people with common interests — it is time to unite and eliminate these anti-liberation forces,” she said.

Imran H. Sarker, the chief coordinator of the movement, told IPS that up to now militancy overpowered ordinary people because the movement lacked cohesion.

But today “we are stronger than ever before. We have non-violent youth power and we will build a new Bangladesh”.

Indeed, the call for a “new Bangladesh” finds echo in the minds of youth around this country of 150 million where poverty is hovering at 35 percent, the cost of living has more than doubled since 2000, youth male unemployment is on the rise and nearly 50 percent of Bangladesh’s primary school students drop out before they complete fifth grade.

Dr. Khondoker Golam Moazzem, assistant director of Bangladesh’s leading private think tank, the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), told IPS, “Despite notable developments in poverty eradication, over 40 million people still live below the poverty line.”

An economist by profession, Moazzem attributed poverty to low education levels here, as well as the primary factor driving scores of boys and girls into the informal labour market.

While poverty has long kept millions silent on the issue of politics, the Shahbagh protests are changing that trend.

According to Poonam Chakraborti, a protestor who teaches in a private school, “Ordinary people have joined us in frustration over decades of dirty politics in the name of democracy.”

Scores of other protestors told IPS they were fed up with a political system that allowed the opposition to boycott parliamentary sessions, set fire to public buildings and vehicles, and create a climate of anarchy. Others expressed dissatisfaction with a society divided between only two parties, the ruling Awami League and the opposition BNP.

“The people in the streets represent the voters who will decide tomorrow’s rulers of the nation,” Chakraborti told IPS. “So Shahbagh (represents) a crucial turning-point in the country’s political system.”

Conservative estimates put the number of people at some of the largest demonstrations in Dhaka at about 300,000, while others say protests have drawn upwards of a quarter of a million.

Though largely ignored by the Western media, the scale of the protests has forced the political establishment to sit up and pay attention.

As Jharna Rani Das, one of the participating online activists, pointed out to IPS, “Many ruling and opposition party politicians (including members of the Awami League and the Bangladesh Communist Party), worried by our sheer strength, have already expressed solidarity with us.”

“This is a clear indication of a weakening of the old order — the louder we chant, the greater the cracks on the political dynasty.”

(END)

Kashmiri journalists at a rare protest against a government clampdown on freedom of expression. Credit: Athar Parvaiz/IPS

By Athar Parvaiz
SRINAGAR, Oct 18 2012 (IPS)

Fayaz Ahmad’s Faim Internet Café in the Sopore township of Indian Kashmir was booming until a year ago, when police entered his premises without warning and seized all his computers.

Fayaz himself was taken into custody after being told that someone had sent a “suspicious” email from his café.

Fayaz told IPS it is “impossible” for a café owner to control the actions of his customers.

“All I could do was note down the names and addresses of my visitors, maintain a record of their identity cards and list the times (of their arrival and departure from the café),” said Fayaz.

He is not the only person to have his life seriously disrupted by the government’s clampdown on Internet users throughout the state of Jammu and Kashmir.

Rayees Ahmad, owner of Hughes Internet Café, was also harassed by the police and forced to pack up his business.

Kashmiri youth at an internet cafe in central Srinagar. Credit: Athar Parvaiz/IPS

Now, not a single Internet café operates in Sopore, a town of 300,000 people.

In the towns of Sringar – the economic capital of Indian Kashmir – Anantnag and Baramulla, many young boys have been picked up from their homes for expressing their personal views on Facebook and Twitter. Popular sites like YouTube have been blocked. Text messaging services have been jammed.

Yet when Indian Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde visited Lal Chowk, a city square in Srinagar that has served as a meeting point for rights activists since the 1980s, he failed to mention the attack on freedom of expression in the Valley.

“With 500 security personnel present in and around Lal Chowk, and mobile phones jammed, the minister claimed that everything was (fine) in Kashmir,” Khurrum Parvez, a renowned human rights activist and convener of the Coalition of Civil Society (CCS), told IPS in reference to the two-day official visit last week.

The Indian minister’s silence did not come as a shock to many civil society activists here, who have long expressed concerns about the government’s consistent efforts to curb freedom of speech and the right to access social media and online communications.

“Every time a high profile (official) visits Kashmir, and every time Kashmiris try to express their political aspirations or protest about the violation of their rights, Web sites like Facebook and YouTube are blocked while the mobile phones are jammed for days on end,” Hameeda Nayeem, a social activist with a long involvement in Kashmir’s human rights movement, told IPS.

Local newspapers in Indian Kashmir have also been drawing attention to these violations, which the government claims is a response to a surge of protests across the Valley.

Kashmiris say both India and Pakistan have illegally occupied their territory following that region’s independence from British rule in 1947. For over six decades now, residents of the disputed Valley have been demanding freedom from both India and Pakistan, who control two-thirds and one-third of Kashmiri’s territory respectively.

In August and September of 2010, at least 110 civilians were killed and thousands injured during demonstrations that lasted 50 days and spawned strict curfews.

“The government’s response to (popular opposition) – blocking access to the Internet – is a very unhealthy development,” according to an editorial in Greater Kashmir.

“The move is not only undemocratic in spirit but is also uncalled for under the circumstances. Except for the recent three-day protests (on Sep. 16, 17 and 18) over the anti-Islam movie, the Valley has been experiencing unprecedented peace for almost two years now.”

Internet blockade ‘counterproductive’

Columnist and political commentator, Sheikh Showkat, told IPS that the government is choosing a dangerous path by blocking every outlet of expression.

In times of crisis, Kashmiri youth find solace in music. Credit: Athar Parvaiz/IPS

“In a place where the space for street protests has shrunk in recent years, social Web sites have emerged as the (primary) medium for the peaceful expression of individual and collective opinions,” said Showkat.

“The attempt to curb (such communication) will not only violate the principle of freedom of expression but also be counter-productive in nature.”

According to Showkat, this is not the first time the government has muzzled free speech. “(We) have (been) experiencing an SMS ban since 2010,” he claimed.

Youth have borne the brunt of this particular strand of repression.

Back in 2010, an 18-year-old student from Srinagar, Faizan Samad, became the first person to be arrested for posting pro-freedom slogans on Facebook.

This year alone, police have identified 24 youth for disseminating political messages on Facebook. Four have been arrested on these same charges.

The reputed English daily ‘Kashmir Times’ noted, “It is clear that the establishment has scant regard for free speech and free ideas. Like in George Orwell’s famous novel ‘1984’, free thinking itself is becoming a crime and individuals and groups targeted for ‘thought crimes’ (in Kashmir).”

The opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) says that frequent bans on social networking sites and jamming of mobile phones could agitate Kashmiri youth further.

“The young boys and girls use the Internet to stay connected and express themselves. If they can express themselves (online) instead of coming onto the streets, that should be encouraged,” PDP president Mehbooba Mufti said during a recent session of the Legislative Assembly, which ended earlier this month.

“We may not be using (the Inernet) much but the youth are dependent on it,” said 52-year-old Mufti.

A student named Majid Rashid told IPS, “I am part of many (online) networks that give me fresh insights about politics and current affairs. I am connected to sources of information that I am not able to track otherwise.”

Fayaz’s popular café, which used to draw over a hundred netizens everyday, has now been reduced to a place where tutors get their notes typed.

From a dozen computers, the café now operates just two machines, for Fayaz and his co-worker.

“Following my release after a year’s detention I had to take a bank loan to re-start my café. But now I don’t allow anyone to browse. I simply don’t want to get into trouble again,” he stressed.

(END)