Tajul Hussain, owner of Zamzam Bookstore in Koruna Nagar Bazar, Lakshmipur, was attacked by Jame Masjid students yesterday for selling a book by gay writer Md Zahid Hasan, published on 28 October 2019 by Chompa Prokashoni of Debendranath Lane, Sutrapur, Dhaka. When asked by our reporter about what had happened, he replied, “About 20 local madrasa students came to my small shop and started slapping and punching me, saying why I was selling the book ‘What About My Human Right?’ when an announcement had already been made during Friday Jummah prayer warning people not to sell or read the book, and to burn it. When I told them I didn’t know about this because on Friday I was in Dhaka, they took the six copies I had in my shop and warned me that if I sold the same book again, they would burn my shop down.” He added that what they did was wrong because he only sells books for a living.
We will update you when we have more information.
