In 2007—at a time when an interim government supported by the military took over—journalist Tasneem Khalil had crossed a ‘redline’. The journalist with The Daily Star had published several reports critical of the military and the police, which not many Bangladeshi journalists wrote about.
On May 10, 2007, he was picked up from his home, blindfolded and reportedly taken to an army camp, where he was tortured. In the following days, Khalil fled Bangladesh and took refuge in Sweden. Over the following decade, Bangladesh’s Press Freedom Index continued on a downward trend. The Digital Security Act (DSA) introduced in 2018—an updated version of the 2006 Information Technology Act—became the most stringent draconian law to muzzle the press. Journalists critical of the ruling Awami League government were brought under DSA charges. A study by the Centre for Governance Studies (CGS) found that 280 journalists were accused of violations, 84 of whom were detained, between October 2018 and August 2022. Against this backdrop, Khalil, while still in exile, set up the Netra News, an independent public interest journalism outlet in Sweden. Netra News’ investigative reportage exposing corruption in the ruling government and abuse of security agencies is a rare feat of journalism.
Outlook’s Senior Editor Shweta Desai spoke to Khalil on running an online news platform from Sweden, tracking political instability and protests in Bangladesh.
How did Netra News start?
When I arrived in Sweden, I was not doing journalism. I worked with think tanks on human rights and pursued academics. In 2018, I saw news videos of protests by young Bangladeshi school students for road safety.
Denne historien er fra September 1, 2024-utgaven av Outlook.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra September 1, 2024-utgaven av Outlook.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Metastasis of Binaries
As binaries multiply, pluralism in India is being pushed into precarious terrain
Who Moved My Orchard?
Hundreds of apple farmers living in villages in Pulwama and Anantnag are angry and upset as proposed railway lines are going to cut through their orchards
The Lives of Others
Australian writer Anna Funder's latest book, Wifedom: Mrs Orwell's Invisible Life, shines the spotlight on Eileen O'Shaughnessy, celebrated writer George Orwell's first wife.
For Patna-a Promise, Kept
“If I'm alive, I'll come to the Festival of Literature on Music,” legendary vocalist Kishori Amonkar had promised once
The Ugly Myth
Women are slotted into two categories: beautiful or ugly. Who defines beauty and who does this binary actually serve?
My Way or the Highway
The binary logic of absolute divisions has increasingly shaped global political discourse
Undocumented Return
The deportation of illegal immigrants is the most tangible and troubling impact of a policy that is formulated on binaries-insiders vs outsiders, settlers vs migrants, locals vs aliens.
A Signboard of Abstraction
Surrealist artist, author and provocateur Salvador Dalí finally made his way to India thanks to the curation by Christine Argillet, daughter of Pierre Argillet, Dali's publisher and lifelong friend.
What after Rejecting the Binaries?
As spaces expand under debinarised imaginations, finding the ground beneath will become all the more difficult
Binary Bites
BJP's ultranationalism is a strategy to make up for its absence during the freedom struggle, but the binary discourse on nationalism is being weaponised to make detractors fall in line
