Bangladesh bars gallery from holding exhibition on Tibet

Anisur Rahman
Dhaka, Nov 2 (PTI) Bangladesh authorities, under Chinese
pressure, barred a prominent picture gallery here from holding
a photo exhibition depicting the plight of Tibetans, prompting
organisers to stage the show outside its premises in defiance.
The Drik Gallery at the capital's posh Dhanmondi area
was sealed by police ahead of the opening of the exhibition
last evening. However organisers defied orders from police and
requests from Chinese embassy and staged it outside the venue.
"The show was closed on directives of the higher
authorities as prior permission was not sought for the
controversial exhibition," an official of the Dhanmondi police
station told PTI, without elaborating.
The Prothom Alo and other newspapers reported that two
Chinese diplomats earlier went to the venue to request
organisers to stop the display. The Students for a Free Tibet
and Drik were to stage the show jointly.
"The images feature invent of the Tibetan people, their
plight, deprivation and sufferings caused by the Chinese
government," said an organiser of the students' group.
Drik Gallery's Shahidul Alam called the police
intervention surprising and said, "a foreign country's
dictation as to what to be on display is humiliating".
A Chinese embassy spokesman later told PTI that they
wanted the exhibition to be stopped since it was aimed at
drumming up support for Tibetan independence while "friendly
Bangladesh supports One China Policy". (MORE) PTI