Another glimpse into the future of the West. Do you doubt that? Really? But how is anything remotely connected to criticism of Islam, even simple opposition to jihad terror, treated in the establishment media and by both parties now?
“Accused of ‘Defaming Islam’, B’desh Blogger Who Defended Buddhist Monk Fears for Family,” by Uttaran Das Gupta, News18.com, August 9, 2020:
Bangladeshi blogger and secular activist Asaduzzaman Noor, accused of defaming Islam, has claimed that his family at Amtali Upzila of Barguna district (around 320 km south of Dhaka) is being harassed by the government for posting a Facebook video criticising alleged appropriation of a Buddhist temple.
Noor, better known by his nom de plume Asad Noor, has been in hiding — in Bangladesh and abroad — for past several years after receiving death threats from Islamist groups for defending a Buddhist monk, and 10 Minute School, a pro-LGBTQ platform. He has been charged under the Digital Security Act, 2018, for defaming Islam — an offence punishable with a jail term of up to 10 years….
Bloggers, social media activists, and LGBTQ rights campaigners have been repeatedly attacked in Bangladesh since 2013, when some of them organised protests demanding death penalty for those convicted of committing atrocities in the 1971 war against Pakistan….
According to some reports, at least 30 secular activists have been killed in Bangladesh in waves of violence since then.
The attention of the international media was drawn to these atrocities after writer and Bangladesh-origin US citizen Avijit Roy was hacked to death by machete-wielding assassins at a book fair in Dhaka on February 26, 2015.
As the government failed to prevent these killings, several bloggers were forced to escape Bangladesh, and now live in exile in Europe or the US….
After he posted his most recent video on July 13, supporting the Buddhist monk, a protest by Islamists was held on July 17 in Chittagong demanding that Noor and the monk be hanged. The next day, several members of his family were picked up by the police in plainclothes, alleged Noor.
“My parents and my sisters have nothing to do with me,” he said. In a video he shared with me, his father can be seen telling him — in Bengali — to desist from anti-religious and anti-national activities….