[Photo Banglar Chokh]
The all powerful editor of the most circulated daily in Bangladesh, Mr Motiur Rahman, is begging apology, knees bent, to the boss of the bigots and the head Islamist of Bangladesh, Khatib Obaidul Haque. Supervising the apology ceremony is none other than the information advisor (Minister) of Bangladesh, Mr Moinul Hossain.
In the Middle of Nowhere 
September 20, 2007 at 5:31 pm
[…] saw more drama today. Rumi of In the middle of Nowhere describes this picture: The all powerful editor of the most circulated daily in Bangladesh, Mr Motiur Rahman, is begging […]
September 20, 2007 at 7:37 pm
What a shame!!!!How our intelectual people are kept hostages by the muslim militants and hipocrats.Our nation do deserve better than this, we did not give so many lives and blood for dishonoring our independence in such a way to surrender our dignity to some religion business minded hienas.
September 20, 2007 at 11:07 pm
Those in the picture: (From left to right) Georges Danton, Maximilien Robespierre, and The Guillotine.
September 20, 2007 at 11:16 pm
I was not surprised to see Motiur Rahman begging apology to the heads of bigots. Editorial policy of Prothom Alo has been very much supportive to the Army-backed government since the beginning. Mr. Rahman was critical of AL’s deal with Khelafat Andolon on Fatwa issue, which I also saw as a blow to secular practices in Bangladesh. Now how Mr. Rahman will define his apology to heads of bigots? With this incident of seeking apology, we will now have to say that not only the politicians but also the journalists are now also compromising with fundamentalists. If Mr. Rahman did not seek his apology, the government might have taken a move to cancel the registration of Prothom Alo outright.
It should be a good lesson for those people who were happily promoting “minus-two” formula. But it is their failure as they could not notice what is actually cooking behind the scene in the name of “minus-two” formula. More hardcore ruler, in terms of religion, is now ruling Bangladesh. After such incident of begging apology, there is no doubt about that observation.
September 21, 2007 at 3:06 am
What all of you did not notice, but was published in Naya Diganta, is the names of the two all-powerful editors who brokered the peace talk and were there in attendance:
Motiur Rahman Chowdhury, MANABJAMIN
Naimul Islam Khan, AMADER SHOMOY
Yes, it is “Amader” Shomoy…
September 21, 2007 at 4:05 am
http://www.bdnews24.com/himage/top.jpg?1190368949028
Post-jumma protests rage outside Baitul Mokarram. Police baton charge protesters.
Dhaka, Sep 21 (bdnews24.com) – The Police Friday charged baton on hundreds of demonstrating Islamists when they marched to besiege the daily Prothom Alo office in Karwan Bazar in the city, leaving 25 injured.
The demonstrators took out processions from the north gate of Baitul Mukarram national mosque at about 2pm amid the state of emergency and marched towards the paper’s office.
The police intercepted the protesters when the processions reached the Shishu Park in Shahbagh. The agitators wrestled with the police and broke into a security barricade there.
The police clubbed and dispersed the protesters who retreated to Dhaka University area.
The demonstrators demanded closure of publication of the Prothom Alo, which they termed a “Friend of the Jews and Christians”, for carrying a rogue cartoon strip in its satire magazine Aalpin that hurt “religious sensibilities”.
Later, they took position on the road in front of the BIRDEM Hospital and chanted slogans including the one: “The den of Prothom Alo will no more be in Bangladesh.”
The police again charged baton and chased the protesters to Paribagh area. They held prayers there at about 2:45pm and ended the “siege programme”.
The police mounted guard in front of the Prothom Alo office since morning.
Protests also were raised during the Friday prayers at the Ambar Shah Mosque in Karwan Bazar against the publication of “objectionable cartoon”.
The mosque’s chief cleric said it was an offence that could not be forgiven. He, however, asked devotees not to take out any procession or resort to violence.
Earlier, many Islamist organisations including Hizbut Tahrir have started demonstrations in Baitul Mukarram after Friday prayers.
Hundreds of demonstrators gathered at the north gate of the national mosque at around 1:25pm just after the prayers ended.
Hizbut Tahrir had burnt an effigy of the Prothom Alo editor Matiur Rahman in the mosque complex.
Islami Oikya Andolon, Islamic Constitution Movement, Khelafat Andolan and Islami Chhatra Majlish also carried banners in the processions.
The processions demanded closure of the publication of the Prothom Alo.
A huge number of riot police deployed in the area played the silent spectators during the demonstrations.
The protestors took out processions from Baitul Mukarram north gate to the High Court area.
September 21, 2007 at 4:09 am
Hizbut Tahrir back in the game, once again.
Once upon a time Farhad Mazhar used to grace HT seminars, giving the ratinalist analysis to the “islamist battle against empire”. In the battle against empire, any ally is acceptable.
Now, FM is one of the most powerful columnists in the country. His columns come out twice a week almost in Naya Diganta, and sometimes he also publishes in English in New Age. In spite of being very close to Tarique Zia, and writing many op-eds defending BNP against charges of giving succor to Islamists, he has completely reinvented himself as a close friend of DGFI-aligned forces, including Naya Diganta.
And now his onetime proteges Hizbut Tahrir, are in the forefront of two campaigns against two of FM’s favorite targets:
*Dr. Muhammad Yunus: HT led the protests that tried to stop Yunus from attending DU convocation
*Matiur Rahman/Mahfuz Anam: Both sworn enemies of FM for a long time, as he has been attacking them in editorial after editorial.
This isn’t about religion, this is about power.
September 21, 2007 at 8:25 am
The war was over a long time ago. It is peace time now. The people you are talking about so disparagingly are humans too.
Analysis, even ken livingstone (back in the day) used to grace HT seminars. When HT went to bangladesh they filled a gap. Effigy burning its there style though maybe they are indigenisig themselves to bangladeshi conditions.
To suggest that HT are FMs proteges is an amusing estimation. They both share a generally anti imperialist zeal.
If what bdnews report resembles what was going on in the demonstration. I’m noticing the complete absence of JI. Its the minor religious political parties taking on this issue.
I hope tensions get diffused somehow and doesn’t escalate even more stupidly like the dhaka uni riots. This particular religious lot arent attacking the govt, they are attacking what they percieve as an anti-islamic influence in society at a time when the society is being more uniform its religious practice. The cartoon is emblematic of the bigger problem that they see, which is of Matiur Rahman and his Prothom Alo leading the awam astray.
In that light, iftari with the khatib was a good idea. establish direct relations and humanise relations between the two.
September 21, 2007 at 8:35 am
^^ effigy burning is not their(HT) style
September 21, 2007 at 8:39 am
Fugstar,
In case you missed it…
It is HT who did most of the lafalafi today
September 21, 2007 at 8:40 am
Check out the leaflet
Here is the url
September 21, 2007 at 9:57 am
^^ thankyou. its very Adobe photoshop! still doesnt positively id them calling for executions and/or burning effigies. The media engine is not very good at conveying demo dynamics so anybody can say anything like they always do.
unlike the other orgs, which dont have much time for asserting their electronic presence. HT dont need to rely on the great bangladeshi press (always bribable with free fod) to convey their message.
Click to access PR_ENG_070919_01.pdf
its not really about the cartoon, or passing the blame onto junior employees for them. It is the PA/DS canard of secularisation that HT, who have no 71 or violent baggage, have a beef with.
September 21, 2007 at 11:11 am
And it’s the HT baggage of bringing up non-issues at the expense of more important issues that actually affect people’s short-term lives (inflation, arbitrary arrest etc.) that the rest of us have a beef with.
September 21, 2007 at 11:53 am
fugstar, the hypocrete, on the DU incident
fugstar Says:
August 20th, 2007 at 5:45 pm e
Why do you folks get off on this kind of thing? Whats with the student violence fetish?
Are we going to end up finding out that this started out from a fluffed free kick?
fugstar on the cartoon fiasco:
its not really about the cartoon, or passing the blame onto junior employees for them. It is the PA/DS canard of secularisation that HT, who have no 71 or violent baggage, have a beef with.
September 21, 2007 at 2:46 pm
Thank you Riaz for taking the trouble to find that original statement.
Actually this is what Fugstar said after the latest incident: https://rumiahmed.wordpress.com/2007/09/18/the-only-totally-independent-government-officer-in-bangladesh/#comment-4108
“Where i see cute little men getting frisky, you folks see serpants. i see a molehill, you make a mountain.
I am sad to see our moulanas persistantly denigrated and demonised by people who think they know everything. They say if you want to kill a dog, first give it a bad name”
Now obviously we can invert his original question and ask: “Why do you Islamists get off on this kind of thing? What’s with marching down the streets asking for blood and executions anyway?”
I’d ask “Are we going to find out that this started from a misunderstood cartoon?”, but we already know it did.
Till this day, Fugstar has not replied to my repeated question on this blog and anywhere else he’s spoken, so I ask one final time: Fugstar, do YOU think that every Muslim should have a “Muhammad” before their name and is it ok for a cartoonist to criticise this or not? Come on man, out with it. YOUR opinion, not that of the learned murubbi maulanas who are apparently furry old men demonised by the rest. DEPICTION IS NOT DEMONISATION.
September 21, 2007 at 5:42 pm
Analysis,
Thanks for bringing up Farhad Mazhar. Mazhar is no more BNP than Matiur Rahman is AL. They are both Marxist-Leninists who believe in party/buddhijibis knowing better than the masses. Matiur Rahman believed that AL-BNP are not good enough for our people, and helped organise this bhodroloke biplob. And now Mazhar is hoping to turn this into his inquilaab.
They both forgot their Mao – political power lies in the barrel of a gun. When you move away from electoral politics, the power will ultimately go to the folks with guns in the cantonment, not editors and columnists like Mati or Mazhar.
And Messrer Mati/Mazhar and their comrades have an illustrious history of screwing up and losing the plot. In the early 1960s, they were the largest party in the country. They couldn’t figure out whether to take on Ayub Khan and whether to push for an independent Bangladesh – leaving the field to Mujib.
In the early 1970s, they could have become the mainstream opposition to AL – they won most student elections, including DUCSU, in 1972. Then one lot joined Bakshal, the other lot joined Taher’s biplob.
30 years later, these guys learnt nothing.
September 21, 2007 at 7:37 pm
I dont have Muhammad in my name + I am not a cartoonist.
September 21, 2007 at 8:07 pm
Hardcore lefties are a liability whatever they do. FM at least has contributed to agricultural innovation.
AsifY,
I think ive had HT issues for a nearly decade, them going to bangladesh is the start of dealing with earth, wind and fire issues. They are learning with experience and they try to be sincere to what they beleive to be true. primarily i worry about living in a state run by medics and IT people. In the long term a lot of these people and their deeds will be beneficial to the people of bangladesh.
Janab Riaz,
the two events are pretty orthogonal. not all that equivalent in anything but the most superficial way. Like an upright tree trunk looks a little like a log lying on the ground.
September 21, 2007 at 8:28 pm
[…] its editor, one of the most important voices in the Bangladeshi media, has been forced to publicly apologize to the leader of the Islamists – an apology facilitated by the military government’s […]
September 21, 2007 at 10:56 pm
[…] and its editor, one of the most important voices in the Bangladeshi media, has been forced to publicly apologize to the leader of the Islamists – an apology facilitated by the military government’s […]
September 22, 2007 at 11:43 am
I should have expected such an evasive replpy to my question from you. Clearly the mullahs will never protest a molehill in your eyes.
“Janab Riaz,
the two events are pretty orthogonal. not all that equivalent in anything but the most superficial way. Like an upright tree trunk looks a little like a log lying on the ground.”
– the last word is yours Fugstar.