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DHAKA: Bangladeshi writers, artists and human rights activists have strongly condemned a mob attack on a stall at a book fair in Dhaka, over the display of book written by
Taslima Nasreen
, calling it a direct assault on freedom of expression. The incident, which occurred on Monday evening, followed prior threats on social media. The attack led to a temporary shutdown of the stall at the 'Amar Ekushey' book fair by police, sparking widespread outrage over increasing intolerance toward free speech in the country.
Alleging that the Yunus-led interim govt is supporting "extremists", Taslima wrote on X: "Jihadist religious extremists attacked the stall of the publisher Sabyasachi at Bangladesh's book fair. Their crime was publishing my book. The book fair authorities and the police from the local station ordered the removal of my book. Even after it was removed, the extremists attacked, vandalised the stall, and shut it down."
The joint statement, issued by 124 writers, artists and human rights activists in Bangladesh, said the attacks and obstructions are not isolated incidents, but part of a series of targeted violence. "From the brutal attack on writer Humayun Azad in 2004, the murder of writer Abhijit Roy and publisher Faisal Arefin Dipan in 2015 to the recent demolition of shrines, preventing women from playing football, and setting a deadline for changing the name of Begum Rokeya University, it is part of a series of similar violence," it said.
Taslima, a vocal critic of fundamentalist Islam, was forced to flee Bangladesh in 1994 after receiving death threats from radical Muslim groups accusing her of blasphemy.
Chief adviser Muhammad Yunus condemned the mob attack, saying, "It shows contempt for both the rights of Bangladeshi citizens and for the laws of our country. Such violence betrays the open-minded spirit of this great Bangladeshi cultural fixture, which commemorates the language martyrs who lost their lives on 21 February 1952 in defence of their mother tongue."
Government has ordered police to investigate the incident.
