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NEWS AND VIEWS THAT IMPACT LIMITED CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT

"There is danger from all men. The only maxim of a free government ought to be to trust no man living with
power to endanger the public liberty." - - - - John Adams

Monday, April 8, 2013

Blogger hacked to death for insulting Islam


Bangladeshi bloggers form a human chain to protest against the detention of three bloggers at
Dhaka University campus in Dhaka on April 2, 2013. AFP PHOTO


Bloggers in Bangladesh protest over arrest of writers
  • The government has blocked about a dozen websites and blogs to stem the Islamist unrest. It has also set up a panel, which includes intelligence chiefs, to monitor blasphemy on social media.


Eight popular Bangladeshi Bloggers have blacked out their websites as part of a 24-hour protest over the arrests this week of four online writers.

Those being held have been accused of hurting the religious sentiments of the country's Muslim majority.

The government has been accused by liberals of appeasing Islamists calling for tough blasphemy laws.

Hardliners want those they perceive to be anti-Islamic Bloggers to face the death penalty reports the BBC News.

Computer screens in Bangladesh on
Thursday displayed off-line messages
But liberals say that bloggers' freedom of speech must be preserved. The sites are mostly run by individuals or small teams.

'Bullied'

"Bangla Blogosphere begins blackout in protest against harassing and cracking down on bloggers," reads a notice on the home pages of one of the protesting sites inaccessible from noon (0700 GMT) on Thursday.

Detectives on Wednesday arrested blogger Asif Mohiuddin, who was attacked in January following alleged postings on the internet suspected of being derogatory to Islam and the Prophet Muhammad.

Mohiuddin was remanded in custody by a court on on Thursday for three days to enable police to question him. His blog is suspended.

His arrest came a day after police arrested three other bloggers in Dhaka facing similar allegations.

In February Blogger Ahmed Rajib Haider was killed outside his home for allegedly insulting Islam.

Critics say that the authorities have been bullied into carrying out the arrests following threats from radical Islamist organisations.

They have threatened to unleash anarchy if "atheist bloggers are not hanged".

Dhaka Metropolitan Police Deputy Commissioner Molla Nazrul Islam told local media that Mr Mohiuddin and other Bloggers face charges of "instigating negative elements against Islam to create anarchy".

The issue of blogging became an issue in Bangladesh after a group of online activists took to the streets of Dhaka in February to celebrate the sentencing of Jamaat-e-Islami leader Abdul Kader Mullah to life in prison for crimes committed during the country's 1971 war of liberation from Pakistan.

In recent weeks a group of Bloggers, including Haider, had launched mass protests demanding his execution and a ban on Jamaat-e-Islami, the country's largest Islamist party.

Jamaat denies being involved in war crimes and says the tribunal is part of a government vendetta against the party.


Deadly Bangladesh clashes erupt over insults against Islam




Blogger hacked to death for insulting Islam




Bangladesh deployed troops in March to contain Islamist violence.
Police in Bangladesh have arrested a self-styled "militant atheist" for anti-religious writings as part of a crackdown on bloggers in the face of pressure from radical Islamist groups.
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The arrest of Asif Mohiuddin, 29, comes a day after the detention of three other bloggers and ahead of an Islamist march towards the capital Dhaka to demand the death penalty for online atheist writers.
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Mohiuddin, who is famed for his blogs that ridicule Muslims, the Koran and other religions, survived a machete attack by suspected Islamists in Dhaka in January.
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His blog page had been one of the most visited websites in the country before it was removed at the order of the telecoms regulator.
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Mohiuddin told AFP last week that the government was targeting bloggers to appease fanatics. "It's shame that the government is sacrificing the bloggers to woo voters," he said.
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The government has blocked about a dozen websites and blogs to stem the unrest. It has also set up a panel, which includes intelligence chiefs, to monitor blasphemy on social media.    (Radio Australia - International)

Tens of Thousands of Bangladeshis attend prayers during a rally in Dhaka
calling for new tough blasphemy laws.
(UK Daily Mail)

Members of the Islami Andolan Bangladesh are demanding the arrest of 'atheist bloggers who insulted Islam' and to pass laws punishing those who 'insulted Islam in the parliament'.

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