The proposed Anti-Discrimination Law 2022 is a big step forward in eliminating and minimizing discrimination, says a think tank, while raising concerns as it does not address a few crucial issues like sexual minorities, colorism, freedom of religion, and different ideologies.
The views came at a media briefing by the Citizen Platform for SGDs, Bangladesh on the Draft Anti-Discrimination Law 2022 at Brac Center Inn on Sunday.
Executive Director of Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust (BLAST) Barrister Sara Hossain said the state needs to admit that Bangladesh has some discriminatory laws and “we cannot eliminate discrimination with one law when there are a couple of discriminatory laws still existing.”
Citing the Special Marriage Act of Bangladesh as an example, she said: “A person needs to declare that they left their religion for cross-religion marriages and imagine the trouble they get from the religious fundamentalists afterward. In India, there is no such rule.”
Also Read - Bill seeking end to discrimination tabled in parliament
She also said that, if an individual discriminates against someone, it is difficult to hold him accountable. “This is why the anti-discrimination law is crucial because it can bring all the issues under one platform.”
She pointed out that the proposed law includes discrimination against the third gender, however, it does not cover all gender spectrums. “So, it needs to be clarified.”
She also questioned why the Cedaw (Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women), which Bangladesh ratified in 1984, was not mentioned in the drat.
The “Anti-Discrimination Bill 2022” was tabled in the parliament earlier this month to protect, uphold and ensure equal rights and dignity of all human beings.
Law Minister Anisul Huq placed the bill and it was sent to the respective scrutiny committee for further examination. The committee was asked to submit its report within 30 days.
Moderating the media briefing, Debapriya Bhattacharya, a distinguished fellow at the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), said the proposed law is a big step forward toward a just and democratic society.
However, he said, a few important issues have been left in the law and need to be included to make the law more inclusive.
Iftekharuzzaman, the executive director of Transparency International Bangladesh, said discrimination stems from a power imbalance.
“Organisations that look over the power imbalances and misuse of power in different sectors are often forced to be dysfunctional, and therefore, it is difficult for the organizations to point out power imbalance,” he said.
People get discriminated against based on their skin tone, and this law needs to include this issue, he added.
Senior Supreme Court lawyer Shahdeen Malik said that sometimes new laws come to place to empower the bureaucrats and create new positions for them.
“Only enough resource is not enough for successful implementation of the law. We need the right mindset as well,” he said.
Executive Director of Manusher Jonno Foundation Shaheen Anam said that they will sit with the parliamentary committee and place their points.
“No law is perfect. We will do our best to bring the issues we talked about today to the table to make this proposed law a more inclusive one,” she said.
Prof Faustina Pereira, a senior fellow of Brac University's Centre for Peace and Justice, said everyone needs to see a law that helps prevent social injustice from within.
“Article 12 and 2A of the Constitution says against religious discrimination, but on the other side, we have a state religion. What about the people who are not believers? The law needs to protect them as well,” she said.
The law needs to clarify intra-religious violence, such as violence and discrimination between and against the Shia and Sunni communities, she recommended.
“I was a student from a poor family and this is why I never got to sit in the front row in my school. The pain and humiliation still bother me. This act will help deal with the profession-based discrimination,” said Chief Executive of Nagorik Uddyog Zakir Hossain.
