IGP draws flak over remarks on blogging

IGP draws flak over remarks on blogging

          

Some eminent people yesterday criticised Inspector General of Police AKM Shahidul Hoque for his request to bloggers that they should not "cross the limit".
“I was astounded. I humbly want to know from him whether his speech would encourage criminals?” said Executive Director of Campaign for Popular Education Rasheda K Choudhury.
Executive Director of Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK) Sultana Kamal said, “None supports hurting sentiment. But when someone from a responsible position calls for this, criminals get encouraged.”
The remarks came at a roundtable, "Let's Stand beside Children", organised by the daily Prothom Alo at its office.
On Sunday, the IGP asked the bloggers, "Don't cross the limit. Don't hurt anyone's religious belief."
The issue of bloggers came to the spotlight once again after the killing of blogger Niladri Chattopadhyay Niloy at his home in the capital on Friday. He is the fourth blogger to die at the hands of militant suspects in the last six months.
Yesterday, Sultana Kamal said torture and killing of children were going on in the country due to the culture of impunity.

“If the law enforcement agencies don't carry out their ethical responsibilities properly, there will be no results,” she added.
Rasheda suggested that the government monitor how moral degradation engulfed the society to stop recurrence of child killing and abuse.
Professor Emeritus Anisuzzaman said the recent barbaric killing of children reflected cruelty and aggressiveness of the nation which once had the goodwill to be peace-loving.
He said, “The way of torture, cruelty and inhumanity some people have shown leaves us with one question -- where are we heading?”
“We should all stand together to save the society,” he added.
Pointing out the killing of bloggers, he said Bangladesh was gradually heading towards narrow-mindedness. “The liberal environment that we have been expecting since the birth of Bangladesh could not be established,” he added.
“Right now the country is going through a huge humanitarian crisis," said Selina Hossain, chairman of Shishu Academy. "Police alone can't solve it; civil society should stand up.”
National Human Rights Commission Chairman (NHRC) Dr Mizanur Rahman said the country was seeing social unrest. “Unrest reaches a stage that we are losing our temper within moments,” he said.
Terming the killings of children as isolated incidents, Assistant Inspector General of Police Rokhfar Sultana Khanam said, “Police have the mentality to correct their mistakes.”
Psychologist Dr Mehtab Khanam said, “I don't think we have been able to create a child-friendly society.”
Among others, social scientist Mahbuba Nasrin and Director of Bangladesh Shishu Odhikar Forum Abdus Shahid Mahmud also spoke the programme, moderated by Prothom Alo Associate Editor Abdul Qayyum.