Freedom of the press and freedom of speech are now struggling in the country as democracy and the democratic institutions have been rendered almost non-functional by the authoritarian leadership, said newspaper editors and academics on Saturday.
They expressed the view at a discussion titled ‘50 Years of Bangladesh: Media Achievements and Future Challenges’ organised by the Editors’ Council at the CIRDAP auditorium in the capital.
They called on the government to review or amend the laws, including the Digital Security Act 2018, that were repressing journalism.
‘How can the media work freely when an authoritarian quarter is ruling the state with an iron hand?’ said Bhorer Kagoj editor Shyamal Dutta.
‘Is the judiciary fully independent? The executive has become an example of loyalty to a political party,’ he said.
Former Dhaka University professor and columnist Syed Manzoorul Islam, as the keynote speaker, said that protecting the interests of any individual or group was not the responsibility of a newspaper.
In addition to promoting the efforts to ensure freedom of expression, newspapers must continue to raise awareness of issues concerning public interest, justice, education, environment, women's rights and the rights of marginalised people, he said.
He suggested making the Press Council active in order to ensure freedom of expression and to protect the interests of the journalists.
It is never desirable for a journalist to go to court in order to be able to express their views in the interest of the country, he observed.
‘An active Press Council might be the solution. It [the council] has to be developed in such a way that everyone has confidence in it,’ Professor Manzoorul said.
Criticising the partisan roles of journalists, he said that he witnessed disunity among journalists, much like in politics.
‘This is why it’s not possible in many cases to protect the interests of the journalists and realise their demands,’ he further said.
Joining the event virtually, DU honorary professor Sakhawat Ali Khan said that there should be no division among journalists.
He termed the Press Council a ‘toothless tiger’.
Presiding over the programme, The Daily Star editor and Editors’ Council president Mahfuz Anam called on the government to review the Digital Security Act and other repressive laws that create barriers to free journalism.
He made some suggestions to the judiciary, the government, media owners, editors and journalists for freedom of the press.
He urged the Supreme Court to review the use of such laws that include the DSA and the Official Secrets Act of 1923.
He said that the DSA had been designed to muzzle the journalists, instead of fighting crimes in cyberspace.
He pointed out that many cases had been filed against journalists in connection with a single incident while there was a legal bar to filing more than one case on one incident.
He also said that only aggrieved persons were stipulated by the law to file cases over defamatory issues but journalists were facing cases by irrelevant persons on such matters.
Daily Samakal acting editor Mustafiz Shafi said that journalism in the country was now going through various types of crisis while the division among journalists along political lines had made the situation more vulnerable.
New Age editor Nurul Kabir said that democracy in Bangladesh now was in a critical condition, adding that making any demand to the present government was tantamount to slavery.
Moderated by Bonik Barta editor Dewan Hanif Mahmud, senior journalist Reazuddin Ahmed, Azadi editor MA Malek and Dhaka Tribune editor Zafar Sobhan, among others, spoke at the programme.
A one-minute silence was observed in honour of late Editors’ Council president Golam Sarwar and its late members Daily Independent editor Mahbubul Alam and Financial Express editor AHM Moazzem Hossain at the beginning of the event.
