Amartya Sen extends support to Shahidul

Nobel laureate Amartya Sen has issued a statement in support of jailed photographer Shahidul Alam.

Sen is among global intellectuals who have voiced support for the Bangladeshi dissenter, which includes Noam Chomsky, Arundhati Roy, PEN International, several photography associations and press bodies, including RSF and the Committee to Protect Journalists, reports Outlook India.

‘Freedom of expression, including through photojournalism, is extremely important for democracy.  We have good reason to admire the work that Shahidul Alam has been doing with great skill and courage for many years.  His work should receive praise and appreciation, rather than being ground for harsh treatment,’ Amartya Sen told a group of Indian photographers who are running a campaign in support of Alam, says Outlook India.

A number of global media houses and organisations have raised their voice against the muzzling of speech in Bangladesh.

The police in Dhaka detained Shahidul on the night of August 5 and he was remanded to police custody for a week on charges of ‘spreading propaganda and false information against the government’.

Shahidul’s family also complained of him bring ill-treated in jail and requested immediate medical attention.

Shahidul Alam is a photographer who has contributed widely to media houses across the world. He is an honorary fellow of the Royal Photographic Society and has been a member of the advisory board of the National Geographic Society. He is also credited with founding the Drik Picture Library in Dhaka and the Pathshala South Asian Media Institute amongst other achievements.

His arrest on August 5 came shortly after an interview to the global English news station Al Jazeera in which he had given a larger context to an ongoing protest by students in Bangladesh, sparked off by road safety concerns following the killing of two students by a bus.

News Courtesy: www.newagebd.net