‘The names of certain persons can never be uttered in any criticism’

The names of certain persons can never be mentioned in any criticism, remarked eminent lawyer Shahdeen Malik, adding that immediate action is taken if these names are uttered. You then have two choices, either Keraniganj or Kashimpur jail.

Shahdeen Malik was speaking at a webinar, ‘Freedom of speech faces crisis’ on Saturday afternoon. The webinar was organised by the Committee for the Protection of Fundamental Rights.

The lawyer went on to say that the number of newspapers is used to justify the claim of press freedom. He said, “The present information minister or the previous one would simply quote a number if the issue of newspapers was raised. They would say ‘we have so many newspapers, two or three dozen TV channels’. But quantity does not prove quality.”

The more freedom of speech is restricted, the less chance the people have of being good, or will turn to bad, Shahdeen Malik said. He said, it is proven that the more freedom of speech is restricted, the country’s development will be all the more hindered and will gradually come to a halt.

Teacher of Dhaka University’s department of law, Mahfuzul Huq, said the laws that have been made to obstruct freedom of expression are being used against critics. But of the same views go on favour of certain quarters, no punitive action is taken.

He said cyber space has become very unsafe. Girls cannot remain safe in cyber space. Rather than providing technological support and training to prevent cyber crimes, the police are busy silencing people’s speech.

Faruq Faisal, South Asia regional director of ARTICLE 19, the organisation that monitors freedom of expression, said that 64 peoples faced cases filed from March till June this year because of expressing their views on social media. A total of 73 persons were arrested and detained. Earlier there were regular briefings on the coronavirus update and newspersons could ask questions. The question and answer session was stopped. Then the briefing was dropped altogether.

He said, the time has come to talk about the forced disappearances, the killings and abductions. It is time to be active about people’s rights.

Moderator of the webinar, Shahnaz Huda, said that torture, forced disappearance and various extrajudicial punishments were being used as an intervention on freedom of speech and freedom of expression.

Though there is need for the a digital security act, it is being used to harass people, said Rajshahi University teacher Abdullah Al Mamun.

Journalist Mizanur Rahman Khan said, the quality of democracy will deteriorate with is freedom of speech is curbed. He said, freedom of speech is linked to people’s empowerment. To speak means to be empowered.

Journalist Sakhawat Liton said, there is no problem with the freedom of speech of those in power. It is when they are in the opposition that they face problems. People have to think twice before they write anything in fear of harassment. That is why they simply remain silent.