That don't sound right, this food price shit ain't okay with me

>Shamsuzzaman Shams, a correspondent for Prothom Alo, detained under the controversial Digital Security Act.

Dhaka, Bangladesh – Bangladeshi police have arrested a journalist of a leading daily under a controversial media law following the publishing of a story that criticised rising food prices in the country.

Shamsuzzaman Shams, a correspondent for Prothom Alo, was detained in the early hours of Wednesday at his home in the industrial town of Savar near the capital, Dhaka.

Bangladesh’s Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan later told reporters in his office that Shams was arrested under the Digital Security Act (DSA) as his report was “false, fabricated and ill-motivated”. The newspaper has denied the allegations.

Denounced by critics as “flawed” and “draconian”, the DSA allows for jail sentences of up to 14 years.

According to the Center for Governance Studies, a total of 138 cases were filed against journalists under the DSA between January 2019 and August 2022, in which a total of 280 people were accused and 84 were arrested.

The latest data in February by the state-run Trading Corporation of Bangladesh, the prices of almost all essential items have increased by between 1 percent and 151 percent year-on-year on average in the country. The price of meat price has risen by an average of 39 percent, while rice was up by 30 percent.

According to research published on Wednesday by the South Asian Network of Economic Modeling, a Bangladeshi think tank, some 96 percent and 89 percent of poor people in the country have reduced their meat and fish consumption respectively in the last six months due to high inflation and rising food prices.

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It's stuff like this that reminds just how dumb our first world problems are

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Except this is what Republicans in America and conservatives in many other countries would like to see. That’s a real problem we have, and this should remind you of that.

> rice was up by 30 percent

Bangladeshi GDP is $2700 per capita. Their primary calorie source costs 1/3 more. This is significant and relevant news.

They may start to get it when they can no longer afford essentials. Until then, bigotry will blind them to the ongoing wage and asset theft.

Instead we just have turd sandwiches like Galen Weston tell us that $26/kg of chicken is normal because it's a "premium" item.