The Hindu : Bangladesh urged to release columnist

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Dec 23, 2002

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Bangladesh urged to release columnist

New Delhi Dec. 22. The Editors Guild of India today urged the Bangladesh Prime Minister, Begum Khaleda Zia, to release leading writer and columnist, Shahiar Kabir, saying her country's standing as a democracy, committed to freedom of speech and expression, would be irreparably damaged, if any harm came to him.

In a statement, the Guild president, Hari Jaisingh, said here that Mr. Kabir, was arrested immediately after the return of Begum Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party to power in October 2001. He was rearrested in Dhaka on Saturday for what the police chose to describe as ``suspicious activities.''

In view of his earlier arrest and the utterly vague nature of the grounds cited for his rearrest, it is difficult to resist the conclusion that he is being deliberately victimised for his determined opposition to Islamic fundamentalism and campaign to strengthen the secular foundations of Bangaldesh's society and polity, Mr. Hari Jaisingh said.

The Guild also recalled the heroic role played by Mr. Kabir in the Bangladesh liberation struggle.

UNI

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