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Move to Gag Press

Govt to revive black law?

Staff Correspondent
The government contemplates restoring a controversial provision of the Printing Presses and Publication Act, 1973 which would authorise district magistrates to cancel declarations of newspapers for publishing anti-state news or news hurting religious sentiments.
Known as a black law in the media, it was used for shutting down many newspapers until the caretaker government headed by Justice Shahabuddin Ahmed scrapped the provision in 1991 following a movement by journalists.
Recently, the information ministry formed a committee to review laws related to printing and publishing and recommend necessary changes to make them suited to the times.
The committee, which includes a member from the district administration, so far has held two meetings discussing ways of reinstating the controversial section of the 1973 act, committee sources said.
Following the meetings, the deputy commissioner of Dhaka sent a recommendation to the Cabinet Division to restore the provision.
The recommendation will be discussed at the three-day DC conference beginning on July 8.
A committee member, seeking anonymity, said they might also recommend incorporating a new section in the 1973 act, instead of reinstating of the repelled one.
Interestingly, Information Minister Hasanul Haq Inu has claimed he had no knowledge of the issue."I learnt about it from newspaper reports. The government may have taken an initiative in this regard but 1 don’t know anything about it," Inu told The Daily Star at his parliament office yesterday.
Raising the issue in parliament session yesterday, a Jatiya Party lawmaker spoke against the reinstatement of the provision, fearing it could be used politically.
"We can't gag newspapers by restoring the provision," Pir Fazlur Rahman Mishab said on a point of order.
He said if any report was published against a ruling party leader, the declaration of the newspaper might be cancelled through the misuse the power.
"Many used newspapers to instigate communal violence before the January 5 election. Still, it won't be wise to give back the deputy commissioners the authority to cancel declaration," the MP said and sought the intervention of the information minister over the matter.
He also noted that freedom of press is enshrined in the constitution.
Also yesterday, Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists (BFUJ) President
Monjurul Ahsan Bulbul said any such decision will send the bad signal worldwide that the government is tryingto gag the media.
The reputation Bangladesh has earned through promulgating the Right to Information Act will also be at stake, he told The Daily Star over the phone.
Rather, he added, the "toothless" Bangladesh Press Council needs to be strengthened so that it can monitor the media and take measures in cases of a misuse ofthe freedom of the press.
Bulbul, who is chief executive officer and editor-in-chief of Boishakhi TV, regretted that a proposal to reform the press council had been gathering dust at the information ministry.
He severely criticised the DCs for their enthusiasm about getting back the power to cancel declarations of newspapers and said they themselves had given wholesale declarations on being persuaded by such lobbyists as ministers.
He also criticised the government for not taking any steps against those so-called newspaper houses not followingwage board and other norms of