Bangladesh's 'blasphemy' divide




The Listening Post show

Summary: Over the past two months, thousands of people have taken to the streets of Bangladesh's capital city, Dhaka, demanding justice for all those involved in war crime tribunals. And the story is evolving into a battle about blasphemy. Like Pakistan and Egypt before it, Bangladesh's conflict pits Islamic fundamentalists against secular voices in the media. It is a difficult balancing act for Bangladeshi authorities who have been struggling to preserve freedom of speech as one side is accused of blasphemy and the other of inciting murder. To discuss the on-going internal conflict in Bangladesh we talk with: Syed Zain al Mahmood, editor of the Dhaka Tribune; Sabir Mustafa, editor at BBC Bengali Service; writer and journalist Gita Sahgal; and Dhaka-based journalist David Bergman.