Shuddshashar’s editorial body releases statements in response to urgent humanitarian crises. These statements reflect Shuddhashar FreeVoice’s views on a particular issue and serve our broader goal of raising awareness about injustices, urging appropriate authorities to act, and holding perpetrators accountable.
We are deeply alarmed by and strongly condemn President Trump’s announcement that the US will ‘take over’ and ‘own’ the Gaza Strip. Should this plan be carried out, it will amount to the ethnic cleansing of its current inhabitants. Around two million Gazans will lose their ancestral homes. The Nakba will be re-enacted. The announcement
Gaza belongs to Palestinians Read More »
We condemn, in the strongest possible terms, the senseless, brutal attack on unarmed student protesters who are demanding recognition of Indigenous rights. These attacks have left scores injured, with some rushed to the hospital in critical condition. The attack took place at a time when Bangladesh is embarking on a journey towards restoring democracy. In
On Indigenous Persecution in Bangladesh Read More »
The recent events in Bangladesh, where Shuddhashar FreeVoice began its journey and retains a loyal readership, have left us heartbroken. In a repeat of the brutal suppression of peaceful student protests in 2018, the Awami League has gone further this time against the youth of the nation, whom the authoritarian government views as an enemy of
Shuddhashar FreeVoice Stands with Student Protesters in Bangladesh Read More »
In Stop Genocide, a short documentary that runs a modest length of twenty-odd minutes, the Bangladeshi writer and filmmaker Zahir Raihan masterfully documented the atrocities committed by the Pakistani armed forces in Bangladesh’s liberation war of 1971. Raihan became a victim of the very same genocide he documented two days before it officially ended. While
In a show of solidarity, Shuddhashar FreeVoice signed this joint statement opposing the implementation of blasphemy laws in Denmark.
Blasphemy Laws in Denmark: Charlie’s Appeal Read More »
Shuddhashar FreeVoice is deeply worried about the long-term implications and consequences if Denmark illegalizes the burning of the Qur’an because of outside pressure. While we consider the burning or banning of any book to be abhorrent and anti-democratic, we also strongly support freedom of expression and freedom to critique religious norms, practices, and all political
Denmark’s Return to Blasphemy Laws Read More »
Publication houses play an vital role in sponsoring and promoting writers and thought-provoking work in a marketplace of ideas. Shuddhashar proposes we recognize this by making 31 October Freedom to Publish Day.
Freedom to Publish Day Read More »
It is with horror and anger that we express our strongest condemnation of the vicious attack on Salman Rushdie in New York. Rushdie has lived most of his life under the threat of assassination. For his novel, The Satanic Verses, the Ayotollah Khomeini issued a fatwa against him in 1989, calling for his assassination. Publishers and
Shuddhashar Condemns Attack on Salman Rushdie Read More »
We are deeply outraged by the Oslo mass shooting, which has left two people dead and many injured. The fact that a bar popular with the LGBT+ community was targeted suggests that it was a hate crime. Local police authorities are treating the incident as an Islamist terrorist attack. This is not the first time
A Decade Later, Another Deadly Attack on Progressives in Norway Read More »
Between 2013 and 2016, numerous secular writers, religious minorities, and activists in Bangladesh were hacked to death by radical Islamists. This was a deliberate and coordinated onslaught on freethinking and free speech in Bangladesh. That particularly gruesome violent stage seems to have quietened, but the chilling effects persist through censorship and fear and an oppressive
We are deeply concerned about the safety of two Bangladeshi teenage girls currently being targeted because of their sexuality. The leaked news about a botched tryst between these two teenagers has sent local media and social network users into a frenzy. Disregarding the safety and security of the teenagers and their family members, the local
Let Love Live! Stop LGBT persecution Read More »
