Why Is PM Hasina Silent When Bloggers Are Killed: Taslima Nasreen

The country has no freedom of expression, the exiled Bangladeshi author said.

Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen. (Photo: Twitter/Taslima Nasreen)

Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen on Monday said her country has no freedom of expression – as is evident in the rampant murders of bloggers and writers.

Criticising Sheikh Hasina for her double standards, Nasreen said the Bangladeshi Prime Minister was ignoring the situation in the country by mourning the loss of the Dhaka victims but not talking about the regular spate of attacks.

“Hasina always tried to ignore that Islamisation started in Bangladesh and also that fundamentalists are rising and terrorists are growing,” Nasreen said. She added:

There is no freedom of expression in Bangladesh. So many bloggers, writers were killed only for expressing views different from that of fundamentalists. Many bloggers were imprisoned.

Nasreen, who has been living outside Bangladesh for many years, said the government failed to give security to the writers leading to their steady exodus. “Many bloggers left the country for America, Germany, India and Nepal. Many secular bloggers stopped writing because of fear,” she added.