While the leaders of the ruling and the opposition parties are freely blaming each other over the existence or non-existence of the civil and political liberties, the research report released by the US-based organisation Freedom House does not give us any relief. According to the report, the practice of political rights and the situation of civil liberties have not improved in Bangladesh. Like in 2019 and 2020, Bangladesh's score is 39 out of 100 in 2021.
Freedom House reports on 210 countries and territories. Of these, 84 countries and territories have political rights and civil liberties. In 60 countries and territories, this state of freedom has been described as 'partially free and in 66 countries and territories as 'not free at all'. According to the report, Bangladesh got 15 out of 40 marks in political rights and 24 out of 60 in civil liberties. In 2018, Bangladesh's score was 41. In other words, the position of Bangladesh has become weaker than three years ago.
Freedom House considers political rights and civil liberties in its assessment of global freedom. Political rights include electoral system and transparency, political pluralism and participation in politics, government's effectiveness, policy-making, the exercise of power and transparency. Civil liberties, on the other hand, include freedom of expression and belief, the role of government and non-government organisations, including human rights organisations, the rule of law and the judiciary, and individual freedom.
Bangladesh had a rating of 5 out of 7 in both criteria of political rights and civil liberties. As a result, Bangladesh got 5 in freedom rating. As such, Bangladesh is 'partially free' in terms of democratic freedom. The Freedom House report listed countries and territories with scores between 1 and 34 as ‘not at all free’, 35 to 71 as ‘partially free’ and more than 72 as "free".
Although Bangladesh is on the list of ‘partially free’ countries, its position is at the bottom, far from the list of ‘free’ countries, and very close to the list of ‘not at all free’ countries. Taking five steps down, Bangladesh will join the list of a completely authoritarian countries. On the other hand, it has to go a long way to become a ‘free’ country.
It is true that democratic governance has deteriorated worldwide. Countries like the United States and India, which have a long and uninterrupted democratic tradition, have also become authoritarian. The rulers of these countries have adopted policies and programmes that undermine the civil rights of ethnic minorities and religious minorities.
There is some undeniable progress in establishing the civil rights of religious minorities in Bangladesh. But the political freedom is in grave danger. On the other hand, the universal practice of forming a government through fair and peaceful elections in a democratic system is also now in question. The electoral system is on the verge of collapse.
In order to overcome this situation, the obstacles to political and civil liberties have to be removed. There is no alternative to repealing laws that impede the exercise of civil rights and freedom of the media, such as the Digital Security Act.