Janakantha journo sued for hurting religious sentiment

A case has been filed in Chittagong accusing a senior Daily Janakantha reporter of hurting religious sentiment of the Buddhists by terming Gautama Buddha a terrorist and alleging that Buddhist monasteries in the CHT are dens of criminals. Advocate Md Sohel lodged the case against Firoz Manna with the court of Metropolitan Magistrate Abu Saleh Mohammad Noman Thursday. Chittagong Metropolitan Police's Assistant Commissioner (prosecution) Kazi Md Shahabuddin told the Dhaka Tribune that the court, after accepting the case, ordered the Detective Branch of police to launch an investigation, and submit a report. But, he primarily could not confirm the deadline for the probe. On Monday, the Bangla national newspaper ran a report dubbing Gautama Buddha as a terrorist and accusing the Buddhist monasteries in Rangamati and Bandarban of being used as training centres run by Myanmar's radical nationalist group called 969 Movement. In the report, the reporter expressed his concern saying that 969 Movement has converted more than 25,000 indigenous peoples as its followers in the last few months. Meanwhile, members of Buddha Moitree Kallyan Sangha staged a demonstration Thursday in front of Khagrachhari Press Club condemning the same news report. They formed a human chain in the morning and later submitted a memorandum to the deputy commissioner seeking action against the reporter. Protests by the religious minority community were also reported in parts of the country including Chittagong Hill Tracts. On Wednesday, Buddhist students of Dhaka University staged a demonstration on the campus condemning the report. Jagaran Bouddha Samaj, a platform of Buddhists, will form a human chain in front of Chittagong Press Club at 3pm Friday.