The amended anti-terrorism act is a troublesome violation of our civil liberties and constitutional rights, and sets a questionable precedent for the state’s relationship with this nation’s people.
It breaches fundamental principles in Bangladesh’s legal apparatus, including the right to privacy of correspondence, and can be misused to very dangerous effect, with an unscrupulous application resulting in political or even personal “witch-hunting.”
Parts of the new act amount to spying on the population and contradict the existing Evidence Act, which governs the manner in which information produced in court can be lawfully obtained.
It also makes people more susceptible to being framed, since electronic and online mediums can be hacked to insert seditious material.
Equally worrying is the right it gives law enforcers to seize assets and freeze the bank accounts of suspects, without being given permission by the courts, and before a conviction has been won.
The need for stronger measures against actual and potential terrorists is a real one, and steps in that direction are indeed necessary; however, impinging on the fundamental rights of the entire nation is not the way to go about it, especially since we are not at a state of war or in a state of emergency.
The timing of this amendment is also suspicious. This close to the next elections, and with opposition parties already being associated with terrorism, it is easy to see how the act could be politically expedient in maintaining the ruling party’s grip on the levers of power.
