Justice prevails-with a huge push from the people

Bangladesh’s high court ordered the government to remove police officers blocking the public’s access to the CROSSFIRE exhibition at Drik Gallery in Dhaka.

Here is Drik’s Managing Director (and creator of the images) Shahidul Alam’s statement:

Government lawyers confirmed to the Vacation Bench of the High Court today that the police deployed in front of the DRIK Gallery had been withdrawn and that there would be no obstruction to the exhibition from now on.

This is a victory on many fronts. The right of Bangladeshi people to be informed, the rights of artists and media professionals to speak out, and the citizens’ right to protest against injustice, are all important factors, but the fact that the judiciary can stand up to the government gives renewed hope to a people fighting to establish the rule of law. It happened because the nation was united in protest, and that protest
against all forms of injustice must continue.

Thank you all for your magnificent support.

Shahidul

See also Media Helping Media, which has been on top of the story.

ENDS

In-person death threat in Dhaka

Three days ago, a man delivered a death threat to Dr. Shahidul Alam after walking into the Drik Gallery in Dhaka.

“An unidentified young man stormed into the Drik Gallery on March 27 (Saturday) morning and rudely asked the security guard about Shahidul Alam,” the newspaper New Age reported. “But when the security guard inquired about the identity of the man, the young man refused to give his identity and told the guard that Alam would meet his death in the street.”

Here’s the full story from New Age, Bangladesh’s independent English-language newspaper. (Scroll down for item.)

See also the transcript of the conversation, captured on video:

Dr. Alam’s photography show, CROSSFIRE, featuring photos evocative of the sites where the paramilitary Rapid Action Battalion killed citizens under suspicious circumstances, was closed eight days ago by the government. RAB has been implicated in numerous extrajudicial killings.

Recent threats have also been made against Nurul Kabir, Editor of New Age. Both Kabir and Alam have been consistent critics of the abuses of power by and corruption in government and among elites in Bangladesh.

This recent death threat is to be taken seriously: In 1996, unknown assailants stabbed Alam on the street. At the time, the military was rounding up activists in advance of a parliamentary election, Alam told me in 2008. Many human rights groups were afraid to take a stand publicly, “so the seat of resistance became this gallery here. Two days later, I was stopped in the street. Eight knives were put into me.”

History must not repeat. Please spread the word to the human rights and freedom-of-the-press groups of your choice. Make sure to Tweet, too.

Here’s a New York Times preview of the exhibition by David Gonzalez plus follow-up on the exhibition’s shutdown.

And a link to Drik itself.

ENDS