On 6 September, Chrono Satellite Broadcast (CSB), Bangladesh's only private 24-hour news channel (which launched just this past March) was suddenly forced to shut down by the government. Days earlier, the station's managers had been warned not to broadcast footage of the pro-democracy riots that were wracking the country. Officials from the country's Telecom Regulatory Commission claimed that there were irregularities in the allocation of the station's broadcast frequency, but if this were merely an issue of a not-so-kosher license, why turn up with a Rapid Action Battalion squad? The official explanation lacks further credibility given that, on 23 August, the interim government had served notices cautioning CSB, as well as the private Ekushey TV, for "breaching emergency rules". This supposed breach took place when the channels aired footage of student agitations in Dhaka University and other pro-democracy riots. In a statement, the Press Information Department said the two stations had aired "provocative news, video footage and talk shows against the government". Aha – now we know why!
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For Bangladeshi authorities, religion is no laughing matter. Arifur Rahman, a cartoonist with Aalpin, the daily newspaper Prothom Alo's weekly satirical supplement, was arrested on 17 September over a cartoon that included a play on the name Mohammed. Entitled "Name", the cartoon took a swipe at the custom in Muslim countries of prefixing every name with 'Mohammed' – including, evidently, that of a cat. Not amused, the government's press department said the cartoon "hurt religious sentiments", and seized all copies of the supplement. Religious leaders are up in arms – baying for the cartoonist's blood, and demanding that Prothom Alo be shut down. Copies of the newspaper have been burned outside one of the capital's mosques (pic). Chhetria Patrakar is sad to say that Prothom Alo felt compelled to apologise, and even fired the Aalpin's deputy editor. I says somethign about the situaion in Bangladesh, and of the media's strength.
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Troubles continue for Tibetan monk and writer Rinchen Sangpo, who has been harassed ever since his release without charge in August 2006 following a month's detention. Sangpo's critical writings (most recently two unpublished works entitled "The Story of Blood" and "The Story of Lhasa") appear to have caused the Lhasa authorities much discomfort. He was arrested again in April of this year in Amdo Golak, while on his way to a festival. He was held for five days in various police stations, where he claims to have been tortured. The 33-year-old writer, the editor of the periodical Tune of Shachi River, has been known to the Chinese authorities since 2004, when his work No Retreating Path was recalled by the Chinese authorities shortly after its publication, deeming it to be "political" (as if there's anything wrong with that). Sangpo is currently unable to return to his base at Drepung Monastery, long known for its political dissent, due to fears for his safety.
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Along with some pro-democracy activists in Burma, in early September several journalists, including two from Agence France-Presse, suddenly found their mobile phones had gone dead. Just prior, Directorate of Military Engineers officials had paid a visit to the country's main national telecommunication complex. This seems to be just one in a series of actions by the Burmese junta in attempting to contain the growing popular protests, which began on 19 August and have subsequently swept the country. But the truth, as they say, is out there, regardless of junta anxieties. For excellent video coverage and day-by-day print reports about the protests, turn to any one of the several Burmese exile-run publications, including Mizzima News and Irrawaddy. CP has also been mesmerised in recent weeks by video clips of the protests posted on the popular video-sharing site, Youtube.
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