South Asia Citizens Web

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  The price of free speech in Bangladesh | Ahsan Akbar

  24 September

  In February this year the authorities in Bangladesh took Shamsuzzoha Manik, a 73-year-old publisher, into custody for publishing a book titled “Islam Bitorko” (“Debate on Islam”). His arrest and the shutting down of his stall marked a sour moment in the nation’s largest book fair, Ekushey Boi Mela, held annually at Bangla Academy in honor of the International Mother Language Day. While the book, deemed to be offensive to Islam, has been taken out of circulation, seven months later the publisher remains behind bars.

• India: Statement by Writers and Creative Artists on Kashmir

  23 September

  We, the members of the creative community of India, belonging to various languages, regions and religions, feel deeply moved and anguished by the suffering our Kashmiri brothers, sisters, children are undergoing. It is most unfortunate, undeserved and uncalled for. We are confident that if Kashmir bleeds, it amounts to the whole of India bleeding; the Kashmiri suffering and pain, hurt and indignity are all that of India in equal measure. We wish to emphasise that India is much larger than its governments, both of State and the Centre, its security forces and its political outfits. The Kashmiri people are Indian people and we are all struggling together for making freedom, equality and justice real for everyone.

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  India - Pakistan Tensions: Joint Statement by Pakistan - India Peoples’ Forum for Peace and Democracy (23 Sept 2016)

  23 September

  PIPFPD expresses its concern over the growing tensions between India and Pakistan following militants’ attack on strategically important army base in Uri, Jammu & Kashmir.

• War of Words Over Kashmir Between India and Pakistan at the United Nations

  22 September, by Nyla Ali Khan

  After hearing the reference to UN resolutions vis-a-vis Kashmir and demilitarization in Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s speech in the United Nations General Assembly earlier today, I thought I’d write a little something about the resolution adopted by the United Nations Commission for India and Pakistan (UNCIP), which underscores that demilitarization is a prerequisite for Pakistan as well before an impartial plebiscite could even be considered.

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  India Stifling Dissent - report by International Human Rights Program (IHRP) at the University of Toronto and PEN Canada

  20 September

  The space for free speech in India’s public sphere is shrinking. A climate of online harassment threatens to silence critical voices, particularly those of minorities and women. Proposed changes to the Information Technology Act, incorporating overbroad provisions of the penal code, threaten online speech. A culture of self-censorship born out of the fear of reprisals is growing, and vexatious and groundless trials against authors, journalists, and artists are eroding the principle of free speech. The report concludes with a set of recommendations for urgent reform to prevent further abuses and a call for the protection of free expression in the world’s largest democracy.

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