Although Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury has been jailed and his
offices bombed several times, the editor and publisher of the Weekly
Blitz continues to publish his newspaper every week. Read by more than
30,000 subscribers, the anti-jihadist newspaper based out of Bangladesh
fights against religious extremism.
Choudhury told several stories Sunday night in the Graduate Student
Lounge on the College Avenue campus about the way his paper has helped
to foster civil relations between Muslims and Jews in Bangladesh.
In 2006, a clergyman raped an 8-year-old girl in a mosque, he said.
Community leaders told the court she was a Jew and the court decided
not to file a case.
When the information came to Choudhury’s knowledge, he published an
editorial demanding to know why a Jewish girl was denied trial.
Choudhury’s paper pressed the government of Bangladesh.
“Now, that clergyman has been convicted and is serving an 18-year sentence,” he said.
There are 3,500 Jews in Bangladesh who identity themselves as Jehovah’s Witnesses, Choudhury said.
Recently, the government of Bangladesh has brought several charges
against Choudhury, including sedition for attempting to travel through
Israel and treason for criticizing militant Islam, he said.
Choudhury said he faces trial when he returns to his country but the government of Bangladesh would rather he just go away.
He said the Bangladesh government told him, “We care about you — don’t come back.”
Managing Editor of the Jewish State newspaper Seth Mandel said last
year the Bangladesh government withdrew police protection from
Choudhury’s house.
“Shoaib’s position puts them in a bind between two sides. On one side,
they want to show the West that they’re really not so bad, and on the
other, they want to show the radical Islamists that they can keep
people like Shoaib under control,” Mandel said. “We have to keep
Shoaib’s case on our minds.”
Mandel said in Bangladesh, the Jewish community has no place to get an official Jewish burial.
School of Arts and Sciences sophomore Sam Weiner said he thinks Choudhury’s story is compelling.
“One of the most interesting things [Choudhury] brings to the table is
that he represents a very tiny percentage of overall opinion that has
the power to change the interaction between the Western world and the
Islamic world,” he said.
Highland Park resident Christine Carpenter said she attended the speech
because she saw a notice in the Jewish State newspaper about the event.
“I’m actually a Christian and read a lot about Islam. I’m very
pro-Israel and pro-Jewish. It was very interesting to hear a Muslim who
is in support of the Jews and in support of Israel,” Carpenter said. “I
thought what he had to say, for the most part, was very good. He’s a
courageous guy.”
Bangladeshi editor flees home after persecution
Published: Monday, November 2, 2009
Updated: Monday, November 2, 2009
He is the man, who turned down several offers of political asylum in a numberof countries. Because, he is the man of rarest virtue in today's world. He is the Abraham!