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Bangladesh's biggest book fair censored to appease radicals

Writers and freethinkers are incensed after police banned so-called 'blasphemous books'
Bangladesh's biggest book fair censored to appease radicals

Amar Ekushey Book Fair, held in Dhaka throughout February every year, is one of the largest literary festivals in Bangladesh. Attacks and killing of prominent bloggers and writers by Islamic militants have prompted Bangladesh police to censor books that "hurt religious sentiments" causing uproar among writers, publishers and freethinkers.  (ucanews.com photo)

Published: February 15, 2017 02:58 AM GMT
Updated: February 15, 2017 10:22 AM GMT

Bangladesh police have attempted to ban "blasphemous books" from the country's largest book fair angering writers, publishers and church officials, who see it as restricting freedom of expression and appeasing Islamic radicals.

Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina opened Amar Ekushey Book Fair, the month-long event on Feb. 1. The annual fair showcases about 4,000 books, draws tens of thousands of fans and is one of the largest literary festivals in the Muslim-majority nation.

The same day, prior to the opening ceremony, Dhaka Metropolitan Police Commissioner Asaduzzaman Mia warned writers and publishers not to publish and display books that "could hurt religious sentiments."

"Intelligence surveillance will be put in place so that no such books can enter the fair," Mia told reporters, adding assurances that the police presence would not hamper the festival, according to a report from BenarNews. 

"Hurting someone's religious sentiments, instigating sectarian strife and infringing fundamental rights on the pretext of free thinking is not free thinking," Mia said.

The police official's comments came after a series of killings of atheist bloggers, writers and publishers by Islamic militants in recent years amid an upsurge in Islamic militancy.

On Feb. 26, 2015, U.S.-based Bangladeshi atheist blogger, Avijit Roy was hacked to death by militants as he left the book fair. In October the same year, Faisal Arefin Dipan, publisher of Roy's books, was also hacked to death in his office allegedly by Islamists.  

Abu Bakar Siddique, officer-in-charge of Shahbag police station, which covers the book fair, said they were scrutinizing books to avoid "untoward incidents."

"We are neither against the publication of any book nor after any particular writers. We are visiting stalls and checking on books for the sake of keeping law and order. Police will take action only if any publication causes a deterioration in the law and order situation," Siddique told ucanews.com.

 

Book lovers visit the annual Amar Ekushey Book Fair in Dhaka on Feb. 8. Bangladeshi police have come under criticism from writers, publishers and freethinkers for attempting to ban so-called blasphemous books. (ucanews.com photo)

 

Intellectual backlash

Mia's comments and the police's actions have drawn criticism from various quarters including writers, publishers and freethinkers.

"The writers are creative people and the government has no right to compromise their constitutional right to freedom of expression and thought," Theophil Nokrek, secretary of the Catholic Bishops' Justice and Peace Commission told ucanews.com.

Nokrek, a writer himself, said that the government is trying to be on the "safe side" from religious extremists and there is "no logic" behind police censorship.

"At first they have decided not to accommodate some publishing houses as they published books that hurt religious sentiments, but they were forced to offer them places amid pressure from liberals and intellectuals. Now, they are trying to appease radicals by showing they are acting in their favor too," Nokrek said.

Riaz Khan, publisher of Rodela Prakashahi, a Dhaka-based publishing house questioned whether the police were qualified to scrutinize books.

"Police are censoring books and I question their qualification for the task. Instead, fair organizer, Bangla Academy should have formed a board with intellectuals to monitor the issue," Khan told ucanews.com.

He said that police "meddling" would harm freedom of expression and boost religious extremists.

"It takes a long time to publish a book and it is unacceptable if the police summarily ban a book without grasping it truly. In the long run it will have negative impacts on freethinking and publishing. It seems the government is taking a wrong direction: making writers and publishers afraid, in order to keep radicalism tamed," he added.

Bangladesh has no blasphemy laws except Penal Code 1860, which dates back to British colonial era, which contains a section that makes "hurting religious sentiments" a punishable offense.

Meanwhile, the country's Information and Communication Technology Act 2013 also makes it illegal to publish any material over the internet that would "deteriorate law and order," prejudice the image of the state or individual, or defame religion. The maximum punishment is 14 years in jail.

Imran H. Sarkar, a prominent blogger and anti-Islamist online activist said police censoring books was "worse than blasphemy."

"Hurting religious sentiment has become a common weapon to muzzle descent and freethinking in Bangladesh. This book fair is a platform of freethinking but what the police are doing is the complete opposite," Sarkar told ucanews.com.

"In the modern world, you can't dictate to a person what to write or not. So, it's not just going backward on civilization, but also the first step toward establishing a religion-based, ultra-nationalist identity for the nation," he added.

 

People pay to visit a stall in Amar Ekushey Book Fair in Dhaka on Feb. 8 where portraits of former US President Barak Obama (right) and slain Bangladeshi publisher Faisal Arefin Diapn are displayed. Dipan was hacked to death by militants in October, 2015 for publishing books by U.S.-based Bangladeshi secular writer, Avijit Roy, who was also killed by extremists on Feb. 26, 2015 as he left the book fair. (ucanews.com photo) 

 

In 2015, police banned Nobi Mohammader 23 Bochhor ("23 Years: A Study of the Prophetic Career of Mohammad") by Iranian writer, Ali Dashti at the fair. They also shut down its publisher's stall.

In 2016, police arrested three publishers under the internet act and shut down their publishing house, Ba-Dwip Prakashani for publishing a book that allegedly defamed Islam and Prophet Muhammad. Police took the action after a group of radicals threatened violent protests.

Amar Ekushey Boi Mela ("Book Fair of Eternal Twenty One"), commemorates the Bangla language heroes, who were killed by police on Feb. 21, 1952 while protesting a plan from the then Pakistan government to make Urdu the state language instead of Bangla, the language of the majority.

The killings sparked nationwide protests and forced the government to accept both Urdu and Bangla as the state languages of Pakistan in their 1956 Constitution. The movement eventually led to the independence of Bangladesh after a bloody war in 1971.

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