DOCSLIB.ORG

NO PLACE for CRITICISM Bangladesh Crackdown on Social Media Commentary WATCH

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
NO PLACE for CRITICISM Bangladesh Crackdown on Social Media Commentary WATCH HUMAN RIGHTS NO PLACE FOR CRITICISM Bangladesh Crackdown on Social Media Commentary WATCH No Place for Criticism Bangladesh Crackdown on Social Media Commentary Copyright © 2018 Human Rights Watch All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America ISBN: 978-1-6231-36017 Cover design by Rafael Jimenez Human Rights Watch defends the rights of people worldwide. We scrupulously investigate abuses, expose the facts widely, and pressure those with power to respect rights and secure justice. Human Rights Watch is an independent, international organization that works as part of a vibrant movement to uphold human dignity and advance the cause of human rights for all. Human Rights Watch is an international organization with staff in more than 40 countries, and offices in Amsterdam, Beirut, Berlin, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Goma, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Nairobi, New York, Paris, San Francisco, Sydney, Tokyo, Toronto, Tunis, Washington DC, and Zurich. For more information, please visit our website: http://www.hrw.org MAY 2018 ISBN: 978-1-6231-36017 No Place for Criticism Bangladesh Crackdown on Social Media Commentary Summary ........................................................................................................................... 1 Information and Communication Act ......................................................................................... 3 Punishing Government Critics ...................................................................................................4 Protecting Religious Sentiment ................................................................................................. 5 Digital Security Act .................................................................................................................. 6 Key Recommendations ....................................................................................................... 8 Methodology ...................................................................................................................... 9 I. Background ................................................................................................................... 10 History of Crackdown on Free Speech ...................................................................................... 10 Continuing Speech Restrictions .............................................................................................. 11 International Legal Standards .................................................................................................14 II. Challenges to ICT Act and Proposed Digital Security Act ................................................ 17 Section 57 .............................................................................................................................. 18 Defamation ...................................................................................................................... 18 Prejudicing the Image of the State ................................................................................... 20 Hurt to Religious Beliefs ................................................................................................... 21 Deterioration of Law and Order ......................................................................................... 21 Punitive Sentencing ......................................................................................................... 22 Writs Challenging Section 57 ................................................................................................... 23 Revised Procedures and the Digital Security Act ...................................................................... 24 III. Targeting Criticism of Government ............................................................................... 29 Targeting Known Government Critics ....................................................................................... 32 Mahmudur Rahman .......................................................................................................... 32 Adilur Rahman Khan and Nasiruddin Elan ......................................................................... 33 Targeting Political Criticism in Social Media ............................................................................ 35 Criticizing the Prime Minister or Family Members .............................................................. 36 3 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | MAY 2018 Criticizing Government, Corruption Allegations ................................................................. 43 Criticizing the International Crimes Tribunal .................................................................... 46 Criticizing the Judiciary .................................................................................................... 48 Lewd or Morphed Images of Political Leaders ................................................................... 50 IV. Crackdown on Media ................................................................................................... 53 Alleged False News .......................................................................................................... 53 Alleged Defamatory Reports ............................................................................................. 56 Alleged Personal Defamation on Social Media ................................................................. 60 V. Offending Religious Sentiment ..................................................................................... 64 VI. Recommendations ....................................................................................................... 67 To the Government of Bangladesh .......................................................................................... 67 To Donors and Key Influential Governments including the US, UK, China, and India ................ 68 Acknowledgments ............................................................................................................ 69 Annex 1: Examples Concerning Political Criticism on Social Media .................................... 70 AKM Fahim Mashroor, CEO, bdjobs.com .................................................................................. 70 Annex 2: Cases Against Journalists for Published Reports ................................................ 82 Annex 3: Allegations of Personal Defamation on Social Media .......................................... 86 Annex 4: Offending Religious Sentiment under ICT Act ..................................................... 88 Summary On April 9, 2018, Bangladesh listed its new Digital Security Bill in parliament, which was then sent to a parliamentary standing committee for review. The proposed law is in part intended to replace section 57 of the Information and Communication Technology Act (ICT Act) 2006, which has been widely criticized for restricting freedom of expression and has resulted in scores of arrests since 2013. However, the current draft of the Bill replicates, and even enhances, existing strictures of the ICT Act. This report documents abuses under section 57 of the ICT Act to warn that any new law should protect rights, not be used to crack down on critics. For instance, exactly a year ago, Monirul Islam, a rubber plantation worker in Srimongol, southern Bangladesh, experienced an unwelcomed surprise. He was arrested on April 13, 2017, accused of defaming the country’s prime minister and harming the image of Bangladesh. His crime: he had “liked” and then “shared" a Facebook post, something social media users around the world do every day. The post, allegedly from a colleague, criticized the ongoing visit by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wazed to India, saying that she was meeting her Indian counterpart, “for the sake of power and to win the coming election.” The post included some cartoons of the prime minister. He was accused of offences under section 57 of the ICT Act claiming that he, and the publisher of the post, were “opposition supporters” and that the post was an “injustice,” “condemnable,” and a “betrayal to the country.” Denied bail by both the magistrate and district courts, Islam, who denies the offence, was detained for three months before the High Court released him in July 2017. Meanwhile, the author of the original post, reportedly went into hiding fearing his own arrest. *** Section 57 of ICT Act authorizes the prosecution of any person who publishes, in electronic form, material that is fake and obscene; defamatory; “tends to deprave and corrupt” its audience; causes, or may cause, “deterioration in law and order;” prejudices the image of the state or a person; or “causes or may cause hurt to religious belief.” These broad and sweeping terms invite misuse of the law. 1 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | MAY 2018 When Bangladesh first enacted the ICT Act in November 2006 to regulate digital communications, legal protections within the law limited the number of arrests and prosecutions. In 2013, the government amended the law, eliminating the need for arrest warrants and official permission to prosecute, restricting bail, and increasing prison terms if convicted. A new Cyber Tribunal dedicated to dealing with offences under the ICT Act was also established. As a result, the number of complaints to the police, arrests, and prosecutions has soared. Between 2013 and April 2018, the police submitted 1271 charge sheets, most of them under section 57 of the ICT Act. Many of these cases involved multiple accused. Often, it seems, the intent
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Complete List of Books in Library Acc No Author Title of Book Subject Publisher Year R.No
    Complete List of Books in Library Acc No Author Title of book Subject Publisher Year R.No. 1 Satkari Mookerjee The Jaina Philosophy of PHIL Bharat Jaina Parisat 8/A1 Non-Absolutism 3 Swami Nikilananda Ramakrishna PER/BIO Rider & Co. 17/B2 4 Selwyn Gurney Champion Readings From World ECO `Watts & Co., London 14/B2 & Dorothy Short Religion 6 Bhupendra Datta Swami Vivekananda PER/BIO Nababharat Pub., 17/A3 Calcutta 7 H.D. Lewis The Principal Upanisads PHIL George Allen & Unwin 8/A1 14 Jawaherlal Nehru Buddhist Texts PHIL Bruno Cassirer 8/A1 15 Bhagwat Saran Women In Rgveda PHIL Nada Kishore & Bros., 8/A1 Benares. 15 Bhagwat Saran Upadhya Women in Rgveda LIT 9/B1 16 A.P. Karmarkar The Religions of India PHIL Mira Publishing Lonavla 8/A1 House 17 Shri Krishna Menon Atma-Darshan PHIL Sri Vidya Samiti 8/A1 Atmananda 20 Henri de Lubac S.J. Aspects of Budhism PHIL sheed & ward 8/A1 21 J.M. Sanyal The Shrimad Bhagabatam PHIL Dhirendra Nath Bose 8/A2 22 J.M. Sanyal The Shrimad PHIL Oriental Pub. 8/A2 Bhagabatam VolI 23 J.M. Sanyal The Shrimad PHIL Oriental Pub. 8/A2 Bhagabatam Vo.l III 24 J.M. Sanyal The Shrimad Bhagabatam PHIL Oriental Pub. 8/A2 25 J.M. Sanyal The Shrimad PHIL Oriental Pub. 8/A2 Bhagabatam Vol.V 26 Mahadev Desai The Gospel of Selfless G/REL Navijvan Press 14/B2 Action 28 Shankar Shankar's Children Art FIC/NOV Yamuna Shankar 2/A2 Number Volume 28 29 Nil The Adyar Library Bulletin LIT The Adyar Library and 9/B2 Research Centre 30 Fraser & Edwards Life And Teaching of PER/BIO Christian Literature 17/A3 Tukaram Society for India 40 Monier Williams Hinduism PHIL Susil Gupta (India) Ltd.
    [Show full text]
  • BANGLADESH Annual Human Rights Report 2016
    BANGLADESH Annual Human Rights Report 2016 1 Cover designed by Odhikar with photos collected from various sources: Left side (from top to bottom): 1. The families of the disappeared at a human chain in front of the National Press Club on the occasion of the International Week of the Disappeared. Photo: Odhikar, 24 May 2016 2. Photo: The daily Jugantor, 1 April 2016, http://ejugantor.com/2016/04/01/index.php (page 18) 3. Protest rally organised at Dhaka University campus protesting the Indian High Commissioner’s visit to the University campus. Photo collected from a facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/SaveSundarbans.SaveBangladesh/videos/713990385405924/ 4. Police on 28 July fired teargas on protesters, who were heading towards the Prime Minister's Office, demanding cancellation of a proposed power plant project near the Sundarbans. Photo: The Daily Star, 29 July 2016, http://www.thedailystar.net/city/cops-attack-rampal-march-1261123 Right side (from top to bottom): 1. Activists of the Democratic Left Front try to break through a police barrier near the National Press Club while protesting the price hike of natural gas. http://epaper.thedailystar.net/index.php?opt=view&page=3&date=2016-12-30 2. Ballot boxes and torn up ballots at Narayanpasha Primary School polling station in Kanakdia of Patuakhali. Photo: Star/Banglar Chokh. http://www.thedailystar.net/frontpage/5-killed-violence-1198312 3. On 28 July the National Committee to Protect, Oil, Gas, Natural Resources, Power and Ports marched in a protest rally towards the Prime Minister’s office. Photo: collected from facebook.
    [Show full text]
  • Internal Communication Clearance Form
    NATIONS UNIES UNITED NATIONS HAUT COMMISSARIAT DES NATIONS UNIES OFFICE OF THE UNITED NATIONS AUX DROITS DE L’HOMME HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS PROCEDURES SPECIALES DU SPECIAL PROCEDURES OF THE CONSEIL DES DROITS DE L’HOMME HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL Mandates of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention; the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression and the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. REFERENCE: UA G/SO 214 (67-17) G/SO 214 (53-24) G/SO 218/2 BGD 6/2013 30 April 2013 Excellency, We have the honour to address you in our capacity as Chair-Rapporteur of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention; Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression and pursuant to Human Rights Council resolutions 15/18, 16/23, and 16/4. In this connection, we would like to draw the attention of your Excellency’s Government to information we have received regarding the alledged torture and ill- treatment of Mr. Mahmudur Rahman while in police custody and the alledged sealing and closure of the printing press of the Bangladeshi newspaper Amar Desh. According to the information received: On 11 April 2013, Mr. Mahmudur Rahman, the interim Editor of the Bangladeshi newspaper Amar Desh (Daily Amardesh) and human rights defender, was arrested at his office. It is reported that since that day, the Government has sealed and closed the newspaper’s printing press.
    [Show full text]
  • BR-October 08
    power. It is less convincing Celebrating Indian in the reasons it gives for the CPM’s fall and the rise of Democracy Mamata Banerjee. From the late 1990s, CPM Ministers, Satyabrata Pal travelling abroad to woo for- eign investors, would freely confess that they had a he books under review are two additions to the long and distin- problem with their younger Tguished line of books that have puzzled over the improbable generation, which argued success of democracy in India. Sumantra Bose starts off by recalling that the Party had given land Seymour Martin Lipset’s view that ‘the more well-to-do a nation, to their parents but done the greater the chances that it will sustain democracy’. Ashutosh nothing for them. The Varshney invokes the work of Prezeworski and others, who estab- CPM knew it had to offer lished that income was the best predictor of democracy. Both stress jobs, but hamstrung by its that India has remained democratic against the odds. But perhaps it past, clumsily forced should not be surprising if India does not fit an academic mould or through land acquisitions conform to political theory, simply because, on so many counts, for the major industrial including its size and heterogeneity, it is sui generis. Theses devel- projects that it realized were oped from the experience of smaller nations may not fit a subconti- essential. nent. In the chapter on ‘The For the same reason, examining the ways in which India kept Maoist Challenge’, Bose argues that an absence of governance and of the democratic flame alive serves a limited practical purpose, be- government support for remote and impoverished communities led cause what worked here might fail in states much smaller or less to the rebirth of the Maoists after the implosion of the original Naxal complex, where simple totalitarian solutions are both more tempt- movement in West Bengal.
    [Show full text]
  • Annual Thematic Meeting of the Platform on Disaster Displacement (PDD) Striving Together for Addressing Displacement Due to Slow and Sudden-Onset Disasters
    Annual Thematic Meeting of the Platform on Disaster Displacement (PDD) Striving together for addressing displacement due to slow and sudden-onset disasters Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dhaka, People’s Republic of Bangladesh, 24-25 February 2019 Attendance List No. Organization Name Designation 1 Association of Development Agencies in AKM Jashimuddin Director Bangladesh (ADAB) 2 Australian High Commission Penny Morton Deputy High Commissioner/Counsellor 3 Bangla Tribune Sheikh Shahriar Zaman Special Correspondent 4 Bangladesh Air Force Ishtiaque Mahmud Squadron Leader 5 Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies (BCAS) A. Atiq Rahman Executive Director 6 Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority, Prime Ummay Salma Deputy Manager (Planning) & Minister's Office, Government of Bangladesh Market Research Officer 7 Bangladesh Institute of International and Munshi Faiz Ahmad Chairman Strategic Studies (BIISS) 8 Bangladesh Institute of International and Major General A K M Abdur Director General Strategic Studies (BIISS) Rahman, ndc, psc 9 Bangladesh Meteorological Department (BMD) Shamsuddin Ahmed Director 10 Bangladesh Nari Sangbadik Kendra (BNSK) Sumaiya Islam Executive Director 11 Bangladesh Nari Sangbadik Kendra (BNSK) Dipu Mahmud Director Programme 12 Bangladesh Nari Sangbadik Kendra (BNSK) Khaleda Sarkar Coordinator (Acess to Justice) 13 Bangladesh NGOs Network for Radio and AHM Bazlur Rahman Chief Executive Officer Communication (BNNRC) 14 Bangladesh Post Mohammad Zakir Hossain Photo Journalist 15 Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS) Md. Tanzim Anwar
    [Show full text]
  • The Inu Faction of the Jatiya Samajtantrik (JSD), Including The
    RESPONSES TO INFORMATION REQUESTS (RIRs) file:///C:/Documents and Settings/brendelt/Desktop/canada temp/The Inu f... Français Home Contact Us Help Search canada.gc.ca RESPONSES TO INFORMATION REQUESTS (RIRs) Search | About RIRs | Help BGD42046.E 09October2003 Bangladesh: The Inu faction of the Jatiya Samajtantrik (JSD), including the party's structure, its leaders, its activities, its policies, and its alliances with other parties; whether members face problems with the government or police authorities (2000-2003) Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Ottawa Several 2003 media reports cite Hasanal Haq Inu as the current president (Bangladeshi News 16 Jan. 2003; The Independent 20 Sept. 2003), or leader (ibid. 7 May 2003; Bangladeshi News 23 June 2003), of the Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD) (National Socialist Party). Hasanul Haq Inu3/4who formerly led a separate JSD faction that joined the Left Democratic Front in 1994 (Political Parties of the World 2002)3/4was the general secretary of the JSD Rab faction, under then party president A. S. M. Abdur Rab (Europa World Year Book 2003 2003, 671). After winning one seat in the June 1996 elections, the JSD (Rab) faction became part of the Awami League (AL) coalition government that ruled Bangladesh until July 2001 (Political Parties of the World 2002, 37) . The student-led Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) is reportedly backed by the JSD (The Daily Star 31 Mar. 2001; ibid. 25 Mar. 2001; ibid. 1 Apr. 2001). According to The Daily Star , a dissident group of BCL members and alleged supporters of A. S. M. Abdur Rab, went on a "rampage" after Mirza Anwarul Huq, who the dissidents protested was a non-student, married, businessman, was elected general secretary of the organization (1 Apr.
    [Show full text]
  • Urgent Appeal - the Observatory
    1 URGENT APPEAL - THE OBSERVATORY BGD 001 / 0517 / OBS 051 Arbitrary detention / Judicial harassment Bangladesh May 12, 2017 The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a partnership of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and FIDH, requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in Bangladesh. Brief description of the information: The Observatory has been informed by reliable sources about the arbitrary detention of two journalists associated with the human rights non-governmental organisation (NGO) Odhikar, Messrs. Hasan Ali, a Kushtia District correspondent for Bangla Vision TV, and Aslam Ali, a staff reporter for Dainik Kushtia Dorpan. According to the information received, on May 9, 2017, Messrs. Hasan Ali and Aslam Ali were taken into custody after surrendering before the Court of Chief Judicial Magistrate at Kushtia District under Section 57(2) of the Information and Communication Technology Act 2006 (ICT ACT - amended in 2009 and 2013)1. At the time of publication of this Urgent Appeal, both remained detained in Kushtia District Jail. On March 30, 2017, Mr. Hasibur Rahman Riju, a police informer, filed a complaint at Kushtia Model Police Station against Messrs. Hasan Ali and Aslam Ali. He accused them of publishing an offensive post under the Facebook name ‘Sultan Eslam’ by using the cell phone of a worker at a tea stall at Thana Mor of Kushtia town. Mr. Hasibur Rahman Riju alleged that the post defamed him and violated Section 57(2) of ICT Act. On the same day, police Sub-Inspector Azizur Rahman arrested Messrs. Hasan Ali and Aslam Ali, along with Mr.
    [Show full text]
  • Bangladesh: Back to the Future
    BANGLADESH: BACK TO THE FUTURE Asia Report N°226 – 13 June 2012 TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ...................................................................................................... i I. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................. 1 II. THE LEGACY OF THE CARETAKER GOVERNMENT ......................................... 2 III. SHATTERED HOPES UNDER THE AWAMI LEAGUE .......................................... 4 A. THE FIFTEENTH AMENDMENT ...................................................................................................... 4 B. CRACKDOWN ON THE OPPOSITION ............................................................................................... 5 C. POLITICISATION OF THE SECURITY FORCES AND JUDICIARY ........................................................ 6 D. WAR CRIMES TRIALS ................................................................................................................... 7 E. CORRUPTION ................................................................................................................................ 8 F. THE AWAMI LEAGUE IN POWER ................................................................................................... 8 IV. THE OTHER PARTIES ................................................................................................... 9 A. THE BNP ....................................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Freedom to Write Index 2019
    FREEDOM TO WRITE INDEX 2019 Freedom to Write Index 2019 1 INTRODUCTION mid global retrenchment on human rights In 2019, countries in the Asia-Pacific region impris- Aand fundamental freedoms—deepening oned or detained 100 writers, or 42 percent of the authoritarianism in Russia, China, and much of the total number captured in the Index, while countries Middle East; democratic retreat in parts of Eastern in the Middle East and North Africa imprisoned or Europe, Latin America, and Asia; and new threats detained 73 writers, or 31 percent. Together these in established democracies in North America and two regions accounted for almost three-quarters Western Europe—the brave individuals who speak (73 percent) of the cases in the 2019 Index. Europe out, challenge tyranny, and make the intellectual and Central Asia was the third highest region, with case for freedom are on the front line of the battle 41 imprisoned/detained writers, or 17 percent of to keep societies open, defend the truth, and resist the 2019 Index; Turkey alone accounted for 30 of repression. Writers and intellectuals are often those cases. By contrast, incarceration of writers is among the canaries in the coal mine who, alongside relatively less prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa, with journalists and human rights activists, are first 20 writers, or roughly eight percent of the count, and targeted when a country takes a more authoritarian the Americas, with four writers, just under two percent turn. The unjust detention and imprisonment of the count. The vast majority of imprisoned writers, of writers and intellectuals impacts both the intellectuals, and public commentators are men, but individuals themselves and the broader public, who women comprised 16 percent of all cases counted in are deprived of innovative and influential voices the 2019 Index.
    [Show full text]
  • Chapter-3 Monitoring the Behaviour of Law Enforcement Agencies
    Odhikar Report 2006 Published by Odhikar House No. 65 (2nd Floor), Block-E Road No. 17/A, Banani Dhaka-1213, Bangladesh Tel: 880 2 9888587, Fax: 880 2 9886208 E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.odhikar.org Supported by Academy for Educational Development (AED) Eureka House No. 10 A Road No. 25 A, Banani Dhaka-1213, Bangladesh Tel: 880 2 9894016 Fax: 880 2 9894016 (Ext. 106) Website: www.aed-bd.org Cover Design Md. Sazzad Hussain Copyright c Odhikar Any material published in this report may be reproduced with acknowledgement to Odhikar Table of content Chapter 1 : AED and Odhikar: Four Years of Partnership 7 Chapter 2 : Civil and Political Rights in Bangladesh 11 Chapter 3 : Monitoring the Behaviour of 21 Law Enforcement Agencies Chapter 4 : Documentation and Fact Finding on 35 Human Rights Violations Chapter 5 : Human Rights Advocacy: The Media Roundtables 39 and a Regional Discussion Meeting Chapter 6 : Successful Outcomes of the Project 49 ANNEXTURE Annex-i Fact finding reports 2006 53 Annex-ii Keynote paper for Roundtable Meeting on 171 ‘Police Behaviour in Crowd Management’ Annex-iii Papers presented at the Regional Discussion Meeting 181 on Security and Law: South Asian perspective Annex-iv Newspaper clippings 215 Acknowledgement The Academy for Educational Development had supported Odhikar's work for four years - the last year being an extension to help the organisation complete its activities, carry out follow-up missions of noteworthy incidents of human rights violations and improve its fact finding skills. Odhikar would like to thank the AED for extending its project for another year, where time could also be spent in evaluating the work of the previous years.
    [Show full text]
  • 1 Introduction
    210 Notes Notes 1Introduction 1 See Taj I. Hashmi, ‘Islam in Bangladesh Politics’, in H. Mutalib and T.I. Hashmi (eds), Islam, Muslims and the Modern State, pp. 100–34. 2The Government of Bangladesh, The Constitution of the People’s Repub- lic of Bangladesh, Section 28 (1 & 2), Government Printing Press, Dhaka, 1990, p. 19. 3See Coordinating Council for Human Rights in Bangladesh, (CCHRB) Bangladesh: State of Human Rights, 1992, CCHRB, Dhaka; Rabia Bhuiyan, Aspects of Violence Against Women, Institute of Democratic Rights, Dhaka, 1991; US Department of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Prac- tices for 1992, Government Printing Office, Washington, DC, 1993; Rushdie Begum et al., Nari Nirjatan: Sangya O Bishleshon (Bengali), Narigrantha Prabartana, Dhaka, 1992, passim. 4 CCHRB Report, 1993, p. 69. 5 Immigration and Refugee Board (Canada), Report, ‘Women in Bangla- desh’, Human Rights Briefs, Ottawa, 1993, pp. 8–9. 6Ibid, pp. 9–10. 7 The Daily Star, 18 January 1998. 8Rabia Bhuiyan, Aspects of Violence, pp. 14–15. 9 Immigration and Refugee Board Report, ‘Women in Bangladesh’, p. 20. 10 Taj Hashmi, ‘Islam in Bangladesh Politics’, p. 117. 11 Immigration and Refugee Board Report, ‘Women in Bangladesh’, p. 6. 12 Tazeen Mahnaz Murshid, ‘Women, Islam, and the State: Subordination and Resistance’, paper presented at the Bengal Studies Conference (28–30 April 1995), Chicago, pp. 1–2. 13 Ibid, pp. 4–5. 14 U.A.B. Razia Akter Banu, ‘Jamaat-i-Islami in Bangladesh: Challenges and Prospects’, in Hussin Mutalib and Taj Hashmi (eds), Islam, Muslim and the Modern State, pp. 86–93. 15 Lynne Brydon and Sylvia Chant, Women in the Third World: Gender Issues in Rural and Urban Areas, p.
    [Show full text]
  • Download PDF ( 444KB )
    Gardens’ Bulletin Singapore 73(1): 215–220. 2021 215 doi: 10.26492/gbs73(1).2021-11 Clarification of the taxonomic identity, typification and nomenclature of Impatiens benthamii (Balsaminaceae) R. Gogoi1*, B.B.T. Tham2, N. Sherpa1, J. Dihingia3 & S. Borah4 1Botanical Survey of India, Sikkim Himalayan Regional Centre, P.O. Rajbhawan, Gangtok–737103, Sikkim, India *[email protected] 2Botanical Survey of India, Eastern Regional Centre, Shillong – 793003, Meghalaya, India 3Dakshin Kamrup Bidyapith High School, Mirza – 781125, Assam, India 4Department of Botany, Gauhati University, Guwahati – 781014, Assam, India ABSTRACT. Impatiens benthamii Steenis (Balsaminaceae) is re-collected from the type locality, Khasi Hills, Meghalaya, India, almost 60 years since it was last collected. The history and nomenclatural complexity of this little-known endemic species is discussed. A clarification of the distributional range of the species is given due to previous erroneous reports. To facilitate its proper identification, a detailed description based on live materials and colour photographs is provided. The characters of Impatiens benthamii are compared to those of closely related species. A lectotype is designated. Keywords. Distribution, endemic, Khasi Hills, lectotype Introduction The Indian species Impatiens radicans Benth. ex Hook.f & Thomson first appeared in Wallich (1832) but this name was not validly published. It was later validly published in Hooker & Thomson (1859). In the same publication they also published Impatiens salicifolia Hook.f. & Thomson which was later synonymised with I. radicans (Hooker, 1905). However, the name Impatiens radicans Benth. ex Hook.f. & Thomson is a later homonym of I. radicans Zoll. & Moritzi (Moritzi, 1846). Impatiens radicans Zoll. & Moritzi is now treated as a synonym of I.
    [Show full text]