Bangladesh peace advocate turns 44

Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury, internationally acclaimed award winning anti-jihadist journalist and peace advocate turns 44 on January 12.

Choudhury was arrested on November 29 2003 at Zia International Airport in Dhaka [Bangladesh] on his way to Tel Aviv for attending a peace conference. BNP led Islamist Coalition government brought sedition, treason and blasphemy charges against him and he was tortured and detained in Dhaka Central Jail for 17 months. It is learnt that a section of influential Islamist leaders having close link with the BNP led Coalition government alongwith a controversial Home Secretary named Omar Faruk, who was reportedly a member of the advisory council with Jamaat-e-Islami played key role in bringing this false charge against Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury.

BNP led coalition government even denied to allow Choudhury to attend his mother's funeral on bail on parole.

Due to unrelenting effort by Dr. Richard L Benkin, a peace activist in United States and member of the US Congress Mark Steven Kirk [Rep], Choudhury was released on bail on April 10, 2005. Later US Congress passed a resolution [HR 64] demanding immediate dropping of the false charges as well as according security to this courageous Bangladeshi journalist as well as stopping all forms of intimidition tacktics on him.

But, in July 2006, office of Weekly Blitz [www.weeklyblitz.net], a newspaper edited by Choudhury was bombed by the members of Khatmey Nabuat Movement. Later in the same year, on October 5, members of cultural front of Bangladesh Nationalist Party, led by Helal Khan and Babul Ahmed attacked the office of Choudhury, physically assaulted him and looted cash and valuables from the office. No legal action was taken against the culprits as they were sheltered by influential people in power.

Information Advisor in the millitary backed interim government in Bangladesh, Barrister Moinul Hussain tried to suffocate the voice of Weekly Blitz and listed Choudhury along with 1680 journalists and media personnel in Bangladesh as 'non journalist' and instructed the Press and Information Department [PID] to refrain from issuing Press Accreditation card to these journalists. Moinul Hussain even sent his man to the office of Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury with the threat of harrassing him through the members of armed forces.

On March 18, 2008 members of Rapid Action Battalion [RAB] led by Captain Shafiq abducted Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury at gun point and looted cash and valuables from the office of Weekly Blitz. Despite numerous complaints, millitary controlled regime did not take any action against the members of RAB nor the looted cash and valuables had ever been returned. Furthermore, the same government withdrew police protection from the residence of Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury ignoring the Resolution passed in the US Congress.

Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury has received a number of international awards for his courageous stand against radical Islam. He is the first journalist in Bangladesh who forecasted rise of Islamist millitancy in madrassas. Choudhury's newspaper Weekly Blitz continues to confront radical Islam and Islamist millitancy.

This Bangladeshi peace advocate will turn 44 on January 12 2009. Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury is happily married to Shahnaj Choudhury Happy. The couple has two children Priyanka Choudhury and Hanzalah Choudhury.

Bangladesh Hero inspires US artiste

Dr. Richard L. Benkin

Sharon Sayegh is a painter living in a community of artists in New Jersey, USA. Like other artists, when something inspires her, she can best express that inspiration through her art. Right now, she is drawing that inspiration from Weekly Blitz editor Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury. She first became aware of him when she read an article about his efforts in The Jewish Voice and Opinion, a newspaper that has been extremely supportive of Shoaib Choudhury. In 2007, its editor Susan Rosenbluth, informed two New Jersey mayors that Shoaib would be visiting the area. Mayor Michael Wildes of Engelwood and Mayor Eli Katz of Teaneck were so excited about the visit that they arranged to present Shoaib with special commendations from their city while he was in northern New Jersey.

Shoaib fascinated Sayegh, and so she made an effort to learn more about him.
Sayegh wrote that she “was very moved by the fact that he risks his life to stand up for what he believes in [an] effort to make peace and fight propaganda against Americans, Christians and Jews and Israel.” She was so inspired that she has begun a series of paintings entitled Brave Hearts; Warriors for Peace. The first piece in the series, shown here, is of Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury. Sayegh said she was especially interested in “moderate Muslim voices.” Quite often, those Muslims who are touted as moderate in the United States turn out to be quite the opposite. Thus, she wanted to make Americans aware that there are real, moderate Muslims.

Sayegh also noted that this series is quite different from her other work and that there is some challenge in developing it artistically. But she added that Shoaib’s courage “keeps me working on this series with an urgency to complete it and show it.” Her second subject in the series is Ayan Hrsi Ali, with whom Shoaib shared the American Jewish Committee’s “Moral Courage Award” in 2006.
Sharon Sayegh recently co-founded a New Jersey art collective where she intends to first exhibit Brave Hearts; Warriors for Peace. She is also involved in a New York artists’ organization, the Contemporary Artist Network in NYC, and hopes that affiliation will enable her “to bring the work of these incredible people to as many peoples’ attention as possible through my paintings.” Sayegh has exhibited extensively in New Jersey. Her web site—part of the Highland Park, New Jersey artist community—is: http://www.highlandparkartists.org/sharon_sayegh.htm.

Press Under Attack in Bangladesh

The Suburban in its editorial wrote, "They are neither. They work alone, with no support, forging ahead to bring the truth into open. The International Press Freedom Awards that recognizes courage in journalism is an important event that brings the plight of these journalists to light. But it's not enough. They deserve encouragement and support because in dangerous situations, they champion everything we hold dear, and often take for granted."

Link to this article: http://www.globalpolitician.com/24656-bangladesh

Inside Associated Press’ Dhaka office

By: Judi McLeod

God only knows there are always those who would seize on what they envision as the vulnerability of a journalist an entire government bearing down on without relief, it is just difficult to take when that journalist is sanctioned by the office of the world famous AP office in Dhaka.

READ FULL ARTICLE ON www.weeklyblitz.net

Muhammad Yunus thinks imaginatively - Abed

By: Rashidul Bari

“In general, people of Bangladesh are enjoying better healthcare facilities because of Grameen & BRAC contribution to poverty alleviation and the education and health sectors. The people of many neighboring countries are still disadvantaged of such facilities,” said Dr. Sen, while speaking as the chief guest at a reception at Harvard University in honor of Fazle Hasan Abed. “Bangladesh has earned worldwide acclaim for the system of micro-credit pioneered by Muhammad Yunus and the largest non-governmental organization of the world established by Abed” he added. Today—our interview is with FH Abed.

READ FULL ARTICLE ON www.weeklyblitz.net

Anti Semitic Associated Press

By: Prof. Barry Rubin

If I would choose one article in the Western media that I have read over many decades as the worst piece of anti-Israel propaganda of all, it might well be Karin Laub’s April 26, 2008 piece, “Palestinian plight is flip side of Israel's independence joy.” Why? Because many articles have slandered Israel on various points or told falsehoods ranging from the disgusting to the humorous or been based on assumptions that were at odds with the truth. But in this case, the article encapsulates the way in which much of the world has turned from admiration to loathing of Israel, and the way in which Israel’s destruction—which in other contexts would be seen as genocidal—has been justified.

READ FULL ARTICLE ON www.weeklyblitz.net

Associated Press loses credibility

By: Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury

American news agency Associated Press [AP]’s Dhaka office has finally exposed its extremely nasty anti-Semitic and anti-Israel face. Recently, it was revealed when a staff correspondent with AP’s Dhaka office, Parveen Ahmed wrote several emails to an eminent columnist in South Asia named Sunita Paul, where Parveen expressed virtual anger as Ms. Paul wrote an excellent article on repression of journalists in Bangladesh. She [Parveen] also passed extremely objectionable remarks on Israel through official email address of Associated Press. Many believe that, such open exposure of this female journalist with AP in Dhaka shows to the world that this news agency is not only anti-Semitic but even tried to do everything to defame anyone who defends Israel.

READ FULL ARTICLE ON www.weeklyblitz.net