Songs of Liberation

An extract from Daily Star article.

Bangladesh's struggle for emancipation from the clutches of alien domination has a long and chequered history behind. The bud of Bangladeshi independence, whose fragrance was effectively perceived for the first time through the glorious Language Movement in 1952, sprouted in all its splendour into a full bloom through the War of Independence in 1971. It was a song - Amar Bhaier Raktey Rangano Ekushey February - with a haunting melody from a genius like Altaf Mahmood - which had always been a very important factor in keeping up the tempo of our long and gruelling struggle at right pitch. But it will be absolutely unjustified if we prepare any list of songs and melodies that helped to boost up the morale of the freedom-hungry Bangladeshis without first paying tributes to the memory of the two great maestros, Tagore and Nazrul, whose songs have become almost synonymous with the culture and tradition of Bangladesh.

Asian radio station fined £4k over homophobic statements

Here is a report by a tech website: A local radio station that serves the South Asian communities in Leeds has been fined £4,000 for allowing one of its presenters to incite hatred against homosexuals live on-air.

Media regulator Ofcom said that the comments made on the Radio Asian Fever community station were "likely to encourage or to incite the commission of crime or to lead to disorder". 

This relates to two episodes of the programme Sister Ruby Ramadan Special 2011, aired in August last year, and broadcast in Urdu. 

Presenter Rubina Nasir, also known as Sister Ruby, opened the programme with a Qur'anic verse (Sura Al-Nisa, verse 16) and gave her interpretation of this as being highly critical of mixed-faith marriages, but also homosexuality. 

The presenter went on to discuss various historical events portrayed in the Qur'an in the context of her main discussion of homosexuality.