The recent amendment to Bangladesh’s Anti-Terrorism Ordinance by the interim government leaves us, much like the Editors’ Council, worried about the future of free speech and dissent in our nation.
To say that Bangladesh has struggled with free expression would be an understatement - it is an area where we have been severely lacking ever since our very inception as a nation.
However, after the fall of the previous regime, which had unquestionably taken the silencing of critics and dissent to heights never seen before, there had been genuine hope that this will finally be a nation where every citizen, regardless of where their loyalties lie, will be able to freely express themselves.
To that end, criminalizing the publication, support, or even discussion of banned entities across all forms of media and public gatherings appears to not only be excessive, but it also endangers the constitutional rights of citizens to express their opinions.
Indeed, such sweeping restrictions are ripe for abuse, as rightfully noted by the Editors’ Council, and unfortunately continues the cycle of enabling those in power to silence critics and stifle any form of dissent under the vague pretext of national security.
The Editors’ Council’s call for suspension and reconsideration of this clause is certainly warranted. Bangladesh must move away from the reflex to silence critics, and instead foster an environment where free speech and dissent are not only tolerated but celebrated as pillars of a healthy, vibrant democracy - something that Bangladesh aspires to be but is not there yet.
History has repeatedly shown that nations that embrace open debate and differences are more resilient. To that end, we will simply not make meaningful progress as a nation if criticism and differences of opinion are equated with criminality.
