The Right to Information Act (Daily Star, June 9, 2007) will be good news if it sees the light of the day. In fact it will give teeth to so many other laws which are breached with impunity under cover of Official Secrecy Act. The impressive groundwork by the team of Manusher Jonno (Star Weekend Magazine, June 8, 2007) and its many supporters deserve our commendation and full support. The Daily Star is to be commended for its consistent advocacy and many past initiatives on this cause. I hope the media will keep up this effort.
Law is foundation of a just and civilized order. Secrecy is the dark force which tends to undermine this order. What darkness is to a thief, culture of secrecy is to public bodies. That is why Jefferson's apt remark, the choice should be clear between a government without a free press and a free press without a government. In those formative years of the US he opted for a free press, and got both for his people. Our choice and our tragedy, to be frank, gave us none. During the formative years of the independent Bangladesh I had once the occasion to informally ask the then Law Minister why should we obey repressive laws which do not serve public interest. He responded by saying, 'even if they don't, we have to obey the laws'. The result is there for all to see.
Sadly, our framers of law, and legal institutions charged to implement them, fail to discriminate between legitimacy and legality of the law. Legitimacy is the cause d'etre for Law; the rest are mere tools of implementation. The tools or laws written by its framers, which are at times imperfect and inappropriately used; but with time they all require improvement and adjustment to the purpose, which is people's welfare. This does not happen.
The legal architecture of the
state is full of pitfalls for the citizens. The people in the legal profession are constrained by legality and are themselves victims. We lay citizens, clearheaded but impotent, wedged between the insensitive bodies of laws and the legal practitioners, are put between a rock and a hard place. The Right to Information Act can restore our empowerment. Whether or not that will happen remains a question. Present environment gives us some hope. So, if not now, then never.
Democracy is not the right of political parties to get elected by abusing a flawed system, but people's right to good governance through genuine representation. The head of the CTG Dr. Fakhruddin Ahmed rightly stated in his second policy statement
during the opening of the Ekushey Boi Mela on 21st February: “It is time now to reflect on our aspirations for a liberated Bangladesh and what were our dreams and why didn't they come true ! It is time to think how these can be achieved, and to take actions”. On 15th March he again echoed our sentiment when he said, “Law is made for man, man is not made for law.” The Legal Advisor of the CTG most recently voiced our anticipation stating, “the primary task before the CTG is ensuring future of good governance, and notearlyelection”.
We support this position, for this is the legitimacy of the CTG. We expect from him to ensure that the Right to Information Act is not diluted or frustrated again by bureaucracy, and is expeditiously adopted before the time runs out.
As a member of the legal profession himself, what better can he do by setting this landmark for his people!
Footnote: The draft Law appears to have loopholes and needs to be at places more precise. To cite one example, Chapter III, Article 8, Exemptions from Disclosure of Information, subclause (1) paragraph (h) the text “cabinet papers, including records of deliberations of the Cabinet, Secretaries and other officers” gives a blanket cover for denial of information on a wide range of actions. The words 'secretaries and other officers' might be deleted or made more qualified. There are other examples.
The writer is Architect by profession.