MAHFUZ ANAM

In September 2018, the most draconian, most criticised, and most objected to anti-media law was passed in Bangladesh, ignoring journalists. Today, its amendment process is on – according to the law minister – and once again the media professionals are nowhere in the consultation process.

On Wednesday, at a meeting organised by the Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB), Anisul Huq, our law minister, said the DSA would be amended by September this year. Is he buying time till then, when he may say it is too close to the elections and there are many urgent things to do? This doubt is not based on unfair cynicism, but on the fact that he said the same thing so many times and on so many different occasions, including to the international community. For his credibility’s sake, we hope he means it this time.

But the process appears to be the same – ignoring journalists and letting bureaucrats run the show. And we can guess what they will produce, as they are trained to be against freedom of expression, freedom of thought, and freedom of the media.