PEN Bangladesh yesterday strongly condemned the recent arrest of poet Sohel Hasan Galib who has been sent to jail on charges of hurting religious sentiments on social media and in his poetry book.
Galib was arrested on February 13 from Fatullah, Narayanganj, by the Detective Branch (DB) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (Lalbagh Division) under Section 54 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
The investigating officer of the case produced Galib before the CMM Court in Dhaka and sought a 10-day remand for interrogation. In the remand prayer, the sub inspector of police said that a book titled "Amar Khutba Guli" authored by Sohel Hasan Galib was published by Ujan Prokashoni, containing poems that are deemed offensive to religious sentiments. Additionally, he mentioned that Sohel Hasan Galib had previously posted defamatory content on religion from his Facebook account. These actions sparked widespread outrage among the large Muslim population of Bangladesh, raising concerns of potential unrest, including at the book fair and other public places.
In a press release, PEN Bangladesh urged the interim government to drop all charges against poet Sohel Hasan Galib and demanded his immediate release.
It said that PEN Bangladesh believes that opinions and ideas can only be countered by opinions and ideas, and not by stifling thought.
