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The South Asian country of Bangladesh (with a population of 171 million) is a democracy with strong autocratic features. Reporters Without Borders ranks the country low in terms of press freedom, at 163rd out of 180.

Bangladesh has a history of censorship of the media, books, films and the press. From guidelines for the press regarding content to the shutdown of websites without justification, there are still many signs of censorship today. Where the suppression of opinions and facts is already difficult to bear, this state of affairs is surpassed by the silencing of people. Tens of thousands of writers, activists and people who do not speak out in the government’s favor are arrested or disappear indefinitely.

This is triggered by politically or religiously sensitive issues: the 1971 civil war, the government itself, Islam or Christianity. Section 57 of the Information and Communications Technology Act of 2006 threatens all those who offend religious feelings or the image of the state with statements in the digital or analog space with penalties.

The Digital Security Act of 2018 also forms the basis for the ban on books, newspaper articles and posts on social media. Since 2023, it has been called the Cyber Security Act. The CSA regulates what is permitted and prohibited in the digital space, as well as how to deal with violations and penalties.

One of the writers persecuted in Bangladesh is Taslima Nasreen. As far as could be ascertained, her books have been banned since 2010. No explicit reasons can be found, but Nasreen is presumably being censored because of her commitment to fighting the oppression of religious minorities. The books of writer Syed Abul Ala Maududi are banned because, according to the government, they contradict the peaceful ideology of Islam and encourage terrorism and violence. There is also censorship in school textbooks: passages written by non-Islamic authors have been deleted.

We, a group of students from the University of Kassel, have added 40 books to the Kasseler Liste that are banned in Bangladesh.

Die Kasseler Liste, February 2024