Call to speak out against three individuals causing unrest in New York

Staff Reporter: Civil society has called upon all expatriates to stand up against three individuals causing unrest in the Bangladeshi community in New York.

At a protest meeting held last Friday (August 15) at a restaurant in Jackson Heights, speakers strongly condemned the continuous indecent and obscene remarks made on social media against an established Bangladeshi business couple in New York, as well as the disrespectful comments directed at women.

They alleged that homecare businessman Shah Nawaz and his wife Amena Nawaz, also known as Rano, along with their employee (house servant), have been spreading vulgar and offensive remarks on social media against members of the expatriate community from various professions and walks of life.

The speakers warned that if such misdeeds are not stopped immediately, the trio should be socially boycotted and ostracized from the Bangladeshi community in New York. The protest meeting was organized by businessman and victim Asef Bari Tutul and his wife Munmun Hasina Bari.

Speakers present at the meeting further stated that businessman Shah Nawaz, his wife Amena Nawaz (Rano), and their employee Mostafa Anik Raj have been colluding for a long time to spread malicious propaganda, slander, and continuous obscene remarks on social media against established figures in New York and across the United States.

They added that hundreds of expatriates have been harassed in different ways through these activities, which have appeared disgraceful in the eyes of the community, turning this family into a hated household among New York expatriates.

Asef Bari Tutul and his wife Munmun Hasina Bari also alleged that the indecent remarks against them had sparked widespread anger in the expatriate community. Several social organizations and respected individuals had already condemned the incident and even called for legal action if necessary. Participants also denounced Shah Nawaz and Amena Nawaz alias Rano’s attempts to gain leadership positions in various organizations through immoral financial influence, calling for their social boycott.

Further outrage spread after Amena Nawaz alias Rano recently insulted New York expatriates by calling them “beggars” on social media. Saqib Haidar raised serious allegations in this regard, saying that when he approached Shah Nawaz for a donation for one of his organization’s events, the next day Amena made the derogatory remark online. “We were all deeply hurt and refrained from accepting his donation,” he said. “This is not only an insult to my organization, but also to the entire expatriate community of New York.” During the meeting, around 10–12 other victims also brought forward various allegations against Shah Nawaz and Amena Nawaz alias Rano.

At the conclusion of the meeting, participants unanimously agreed that greater awareness and stronger social responsibility were needed among expatriates to avoid such unwanted incidents in the future. They also called for united efforts to protect the dignity of the expatriate community.

During the event, journalist-in-name only Abu Bakar Siddique of Weekly Ajkal was expelled from the venue for entering without invitation.

Those present at the meeting included: M.M. Shaheen (Chairman of the Editorial Board of Weekly Thikana), Nasir Khan Paul, Asef Bari Tutul, Munmun Hasina Bari, Azizul Haque Munna, Fahad Solaiman, Akash Rahman, Tarek Hasan, Abdul Khalek, Nasrin Ahmed, Nurul Haque, Partha Gupta, Enam Chowdhury, Zubair Chowdhury, Sakeb Haidar, Rashed Chowdhury, Rumi, Zakir, Maksudul Haque Chowdhury, Raisul Haque, Mohammad Ali, Shakti Gupta, Saiful Bhandari, Colonel Hafiz, Alauddin Bulu, Sabed Sathee, Sohel Hossain, Ashrafuzzaman, and Forman Hossain, among others.