DHAKA: Activists from several student and cultural organizations staged a protest in Dhaka on Feb. 17 to condemn the arrest of three Bangladeshi publishers for publishing a book deemed offensive to Islam by hardline Islamists.

The arrests were a direct attack on freedom of expression, the activists said.

Police arrested Shamsuzzoha Manik, 73, owner of Ba-Dwip Prakashani, a Dhaka-based publishing house and two associates on Feb. 16 for selling copies of Islam Bitorko (Islam Debate) during an annual book fair in Dhaka.

A chapter in the book entitled Muslim Manosher Jouna Bikriti (Sexual Perversion of the Muslim Mind) enraged local Islamists.

Manik was the translator and editor of the book.

On Feb. 15, police shut down the publishing house’s stall at the fair and seized dozens of copies of the book.

The publishers have been charged under country’s Information and Communication Technology Act (ICT) 2013. If convicted all three could face up to 14 years in jail.

The move followed calls for their arrest by Khelafat Andolon (Caliphate Movement), a small hardline Islamic group, which threatened to stage violent protests if action wasn’t taken against the publishers.

“The book has contents which could hurt the religious sentiments of Muslims and lead to the deterioration of law and order in the country,” Abdul Baten, a deputy commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police said after the three arrests.

Activists however, condemned the move and called for their immediate release.

“Writers and publishers have faced threats in the past, but for the first time we have seen writers arrested and handcuffed. This is humiliating and unacceptable,” said Baki Billah, a blogger and the protest organizer.

“It shows a growing danger for writers and publishers and this is a part of a unified plan of attack on freethinkers. It must stop,” he said.

Muslim-majority Bangladesh has seen a number of attacks on writers and bloggers critical of religions, especially Islam.

Islamic hardliners are suspected of killing five bloggers and a publisher since 2013, while several others survived murder attempts.

The International Publishers Association also condemned the Feb. 16 arrests.

“This is another big step in the wrong direction for freedom of expression in Bangladesh,” association president Richard Charkin said in a statement on Feb. 17.

“Bangladesh needs to take sincere, serious steps to stop this slide into a situation where extremists call the shots and the state does their bidding" he added.

Father Joyanto S. Gomes, secretary of Catholic bishops’ Social Communication Commission called the incident “unwarranted.”

“Arresting publishers and shutting down stalls go against the rights to freedom of expression and thoughts. Legal action in a respectful manner should have been taken after properly investigating whether the book really hurts religious sentiments or not,” Father Gomes said.

Amid growing threats to freethinkers, writers need to be “more responsible,” the priest added.

“Freedom of expression is crucial, but writers also need to write responsibly as there is a vested quarter always critical about sensitive writings on religion,” he said.--Ucannews.com