Press Release
By Arresting a Ninth-Grade Student, Hasina Regime again proved how desperate they are to Silence any Voice Raised against this Tyrannical Rule

By having a ninth-grade teenager arrested under the draconian Digital Security Act for allegedly ‘defaming’ the Prime Minister, the criminal Hasina regime has again made it loud and clear that it is at all-out war with its own people. His only ‘crime’ was to criticize the government on social media for increasing VAT on mobile call rate. This heinous arrest cannot be viewed in isolation from the government’s tyrannical policy to maintain the suffocating climate of fear among the people through lawsuits, intimidation, arrests and torture. This is a continuation of the deliberate and methodical tactic to silence the legitimate dissenting professionals, including writers, journalists, college and university teachers, for exposing government corruption and irregularities in the Covid-19 crisis, and now even a 14-year old adolescent is being arrested under this black law! But, what makes the government shaky is that people are not submitting under this state of constant fear and are rather continuing to highlight the government’s systematic corruption and looting of their money even amid the arbitrary arrests. People have realized that Hasina government is making no effort to arrange sufficient oxygen cylinders and ventilators to save people’s lives, where as it is too quick to mobilize her thugs to arrest people for their criticism. Since the beginning of the Covid-19 infections here, a total of 88 people have been arrested including journalists under the false pretext of spreading rumors and false information against the government on social media (Dhaka Tribune, June 20, 2020). So, while the regime is now feeling that the ground is slipping away beneath them, it did not spare even an adolescent out of desperation and fearfulness.

At this crucial juncture, we in the Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir / Wilayah Bangladesh urge the journalists, in particular, not to bow down to the intimidation and tyranny of the government. You should remain steadfast to honor your vocation to serve the society and stand beside the ordinary people like the detained ninth-grader who dared to stand up to this oppressive regime.

O People! Since the destruction of the Khilafah (Caliphate) in 1924 by the colonial West and their agents, we have always been under the tyranny of the nation-state puppet rulers and are living the bitter lives of humiliation, weakness and suppression. These rulers exist only to serve the interests of few capitalist elites and the colonial Kuffar by suppressing their own people, and the authoritarian Hasina regime is also no exception which has taken the common people of the country for its enemy. All the ‘counter insurgency’ tactics - bulk intelligence gathering on people, ruthless targeting, pacifying agitation through repression - which colonialists and their agents are using in the other Muslim lands in the name of ‘war on terror’, our traitorous regime is now applying the same upon us in the name of digital security. So, we call unto you to keep raising your voice for the Haq (Truth), and stand beside the courageous activists of Hizb ut Tahrir to hold these rulers accountable politically before they further drag our land and resources into complete devastation.

O People of Power! Why are you still protecting Hasina’s regime while she is not even sparing a ninth-grader, let alone the journalists, intellectuals, teachers and other general people? When an adolescent is brave enough to stand up to the oppression with his words, why are you shying away from removing these criminals from the power while you possess the real material power? O Sincere Officers, take heed from the history! Allah (swt) has seized and disgraced the army of Fir’aun for supporting his crime and flung them into the sea, whereas He (swt) has honored the army of the Sa’d ibn Muadh (ra) which will be remembered till the last day of the world for supporting RasulAllah (saw) to establish the Islamic state in Medina. So, come to your senses, O Officers, and remove this tyrannical regime along with the system of Kufr and grant Nusrah (material support) to Hizb ut Tahrir to establish the second Khilafah Rashidah (rightly guided Caliphate) on the method of Prophethood.

[يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِن تَنصُرُوا اللَّهَ يَنصُرْكُمْ وَيُثَبِّتْ أَقْدَامَكُمْ]

“O you who have believed, if you support Allah, He will support you and plant firmly your feet. [Muhammad: 7]

Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir in Wilayah Bangladesh