A quick update on the Shahbag vs Longmarch/BanglaSpring situation. The Hifajat-Islam men have attacked female journalists and have attempted to bar women from entering rallies. Even female garbage collectors were not spared from harassment by Hifajat and were pushed out of rally sites.
Nadia Sharmin told bdnews24.com that she was attacked around 3pm when she went to cover the rally.
“Some Hifazat activists came to me and told me that admission of women to the rally is not allowed. They said, ‘You resort to falsehood. You’re the agents of Ganajagaran Mancha.’ At one point of the conversation they assaulted me. I took shelter in a car nearby and then they even tried to vandalise the car,” she said.
Later, several journalists tried to take Nadia to Bijoynagar where she was attacked again.
“Fifty-sixty activists hurled brickbats and water bottles at me at Bijoynagar. They snatched my mobile phone and handbag having several thousand takas. Then they threw me on the ground and beat me up,” she said.
Injured in the head, left side of the neck and leg, Nadia was sent to the Dhaka Medical College Hospital for treatment.
She said she was attacked only for being a woman.
Financial Express Reporter Arafat Ara said she was obstructed by the Hifazat men around 4pm at the Paltan intersection when she was going to office.
“Several activists stopped my CNG (auto-rickshaw). Then they said ‘You’re not wearing scarf, so you can’t go this way’,” she told bdnews24.com.
“I asked why I can’t go just because I am not wearing scarf? It’s my personal business whether I wear scarf or not. Who’re you to talk about this? Then they got locked in argument with me. At one stage I started for my office again ignoring their obstruction.”
She said it is beyond anyone’s imagination that women would face such obstruction while going to office. “Females of our country attained progress in education and employment. Now moves are trying to take it (progress) back.
A poor old woman collecting water bottles at Paltan at noon was driven away from the area on the pretext that ‘it is not a place for females’.
Full Article: http://bdnews24.com/bangladesh/2013/04/06/women-denied-entry-to-hifazat-rally-area
Take a look at this picture. This is the image of hundreds of thousands, not a mere few, crying out for atheists to be hanged in the name of freedom to practice their own faith. It may not be apparent from the photograph, but there isn't a single female in this rally. Is this their impression of freedom? Then why are their women-folk not allowed to "freely" march alongside them on their rightful path? Oh, that's right, because freedom only applies to the male half of the population.
Source: http://gdb.voanews.com/
I also found a wonderful quote by blogger Futile Democracy which aptly describes my stance on freedom of expression, and as he/she has a greater command over English than myself, instead of paraphrasing it I will provide the direct quote here. He/she says:
“It is my belief, that the freedom to satirise, mock, laugh at, criticise, as well as question all authoritative ideas, including all religions that themselves are openly critical of how those outside the faith live their lives, is the cornerstone of a progressive, and reasonable society. These ideas include the freedom to satirise and criticise and question deeply held political ideals, including my own. We must not allow religions to be free from satire, nor criticism, simply because it is cloaked in ‘faith’. To close them to criticism/satirism by using State controls and violence, means that the protected ‘idea’ becomes an ‘idea’ we are forced to respect; not an ‘idea’ that earns our respect, we are forced to bow to its apparent wonder, not of our own volition, and so humanity cannot progress the idea, dismantle the idea, or strengthen the idea, and move forward. It thus gives the ‘idea’ an authority above what it is reasonably justified in having, over the lives of not just its followers, but those who don’t wish to adhere to its principles. This is dangerous.”
The only part of this above quote I will comment on are the words "mock" and "laugh at". I understand that nobody deserves to be suppressed/hurt for expressing their opinions, but our bloggers must realise that as literary activists, their words have power to move as well as invoke deep anger within people, given that real, insightful intellectuals in a country like Bangladesh are rare. Bloggers should be careful about using obscene language and propagating hateful/untrue messages through their writing so that they don't unnecessarily provoke widespread violence towards themselves and others. But I repeat, use of obscene language does not provide a warrant for Islamists to behave in the way they do.
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Another beautiful article I found on The Daily Ittefaq demonstrates how freethinkers who use logic to demonstrate their outlook are unfairly misunderstood by the blinded fanatics.
Read it here: http://www.clickittefaq.com/editorial-oped/bloggers-are-criminals/
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