New Delhi, 14 January – Activists working for the Tibetan cause in Bangladesh are still being harassed and intimidated after Dhaka police, under pressure from Chinese officials, forcibly closed a Tibet photo exhibition in Dhaka in November last year. China’s imposition of its intolerant system and policies on Bangladesh is depriving the freedom of Bangladeshi citizens.
A member of the Bangladesh chapter of Students for a Free Tibet (SFT) who organized the Tibet photo exhibition says Chinese agents using their clout and pressure tactics in Bangladesh are making her life difficult. Wasfia Nasreen, SFT-Bangladesh’s leading activist had to go into virtual hiding due to constant harassment and threats. Nasreen fears for her safety citing a 1974 law in Bangladesh that could be used to prosecute her.
“There is a 1974 law in our country which has been manipulated in the past that says that if anyone proved guilty of causing rift between friendly nations is subject to life imprisonment,” she said in an e-mail dated 12 Jan.
It was reported extensively that on 1 Nov. 2009, police in riot gear cracked down on a Tibet photo exhibition being organized at Drik gallery in Dhaka forcing the organizers to shut it down. In defiance, organizers staged the exhibit on street. Drik managing director Dr Shahidul Alam said Bangladesh Police Special Branch spoke with him and asked him to stop the exhibition citing a “government order”. Police also demanded to know the names of the organizers and were said to be looking out for them.
“On 29th October 2009, Qian Kaifu, Cultural Counselor, and Cao Yanhua, Cultural Attache, from the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Bangladesh visited Dr Shahidul Alam to ask him to cancel the exhibition,” a spokesperson from SFT Bangladesh had told Phayul on condition of anonymity. Alam also received a series of phone calls from the ministry of cultural affairs and a number of Bangladeshi MPs.
Nasreen says it is unfortunate that her well-meaning support to the peaceful and non-violent movement of Tibetan people should meet such fate in her own country due to Chinese pressure. Nasreen hopes that Chinese interference in the internal affairs of Bangladesh will subside under the government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina who last week made a successful visit to India where she was conferred with the prestigious Indira Gandhi Peace Award in New Delhi.
