Kabir has been active for years as a journalist writing about human rights in Bangladesh. He was arrested twice in the early 2000s for what the government considered illegal attacks. He was first arrested in November 2001, after the government of Khaleda Zia of the Bangladesh National Party had come to power. The government charged him with sedition and "tarnishing the image of the government" because he was investigating attacks on the Hindu minority from October to December 2001 and accused minister of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami of taking part in war crimes during Bangladesh Liberation war. Many Hindus had been intimidated and attacked by party workers during that period in an effort to keep them away from the polls, as they generally did not vote for the Islamist parties. Kabir was documenting accounts by the survivors. He was then released on bail in January 2002. In February 2002, a bomb was thrown at a reception for him in Chittagong Press Club, killing one bystander.