I
Shahidul Alam
Subi Shah speaks to the internationally renowned
Bangladeshi photojournalist about his notorious arrest
last year and why he’s still not holding back his criticism
of the government.I
t’s warm enough to eat al fresco and
the cherry blossoms are in full bloom.
Petals drift slowly, silently across the
garden. My guest, multi-award-winning
Bangladeshi photojournalist Shahidul
Alam, takes a deep breath and remarks,
‘It’s so good, being outside!’
In November 2018, Alam was released
from prison, having served over 100 days
in Dhaka Central Jail.
His crime? Documenting and then
openly criticizing the government-sanc-
tioned police response to students who
were – initially – protesting for safer
roads in the overcrowded, underfunded
and economically divided capital city,
Dhaka.
What he recounts is a violent kidnap-
ping, not an arrest: no charges were laid
against the then 64-year-old human
rights activist when 20 plain-clothed
police officers stormed his apartment at
a time when he was (unusually) alone; no
relatives were informed; no lawyer was
called.
‘I was dragged out screaming, bundledinto a van, handcuffed, blindfolded and
gagged. The blows came heavy, from all
angles, I could feel the blood dripping
down my shirt. They put a weight on my
head, got out ‘the pins’ to put under my
fingernails, threatened me with water-
boarding. Basically they were trying to
get me to agree to shut up. It’s not easy
being a journalist in Bangladesh. Renema
[Alam’s partner] and I know people
who have been abducted and never
returned, others who returned as differ-
ent people, people who never ever spoke
of what had happened to them and have
given up being vocal and critical of the
government.’
He’s not wrong. Physical attacks and
harassment are commonplace for jour-
nalists and online activists in Bangla-
desh. In fact, the Committee to Protect
Journalists’ 2018 Global Impunity Index,
which ranks states with the worst records
of prosecuting the killers of journal-
ists, placed Bangladesh 12th. Globally, in
2018, 43 journalists were killed in the line
of duty and 55 were imprisoned – one ofthem being Shahidul Alam.
‘Over the course of the student pro-
tests, I saw 23 media workers being
assaulted, their equipment smashed, and
vehicles vandalized by goons armed with
sharp weapons and rods, many wearing
motorcycle helmets,’ he tells me. ‘Several
photographs show that the police were
nearby when the attacks took place. None
of the attackers have been arrested. It’s
dangerous, being a journalist in Bangla-
desh, and although many have abdicated
their responsibility to ask the questions
that need to be asked, there are others
like me, speaking up about the politics,
the inequality... asking the questions that
need to be asked.’
It’s this tenacity, this absolute com-
mitment to exposing social injustice and
political corruption, which led to Alam
being named Time Magazine’s Person of
the Year in 2018. It’s one of many acco-
lades. When we meet in London, he is en
route to New York where he was due to
receive the International Center of Photo-
graphy’s Infinity Award – a rare honourTHE INTERVIEW60 NEW INTERNATIONALISTST
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