Exchange meeting in New York protests obscene remarks against business couple

Staff Reporter: An exchange meeting was held in New York on Friday (August 15) at a Jackson Heights restaurant in protest against ongoing indecent and vulgar remarks on social media targeting a well-established Bangladeshi business couple, Asef Bari Tutul and his wife, Munmun Hasina Bari. The gathering was organized by the couple themselves, who are also the victims of the offensive campaign.

The meeting was attended by people from various walks of the expatriate community. Speakers said that rival businessmen Shah Nawaz and his wife Amena Nawaz, alias Rano, had been instigating their hired associate Anik Raj (posing as a journalist) to post repeated obscene and derogatory remarks on social media against Asef Bari Tutul, his wife, and other respected members of the New York expatriate society. They noted that such actions not only harmed individual reputations but also tarnished the image of the entire expatriate community. They stressed that insulting women was equivalent to insulting an entire nation, and called for strong social resistance against such defamatory activities.

Community leaders and prominent figures at the meeting emphasized that freedom of speech does not mean defaming others. They urged that social media should be used positively, to uphold human values and foster tolerance.

Speakers also mentioned that the indecent remarks against the business couple 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.