This year the Daily Observer has celebrated its 11th founding anniversary amid thick and thin. This is a changed political scenario that has rekindled a high hope for a better future for the country's long deprived citizens.
This is why a good omen looms as the interim government supported by the people and students alike is entrusted with authority for making a historical democratic transition. And thus this government aims to put an end to the protracted nonsensical system that has inherent elements of spawning a dictatorship like regime or in other words a 'kleptocracy' in the future in our alienated political landscape.
But materialization of that coveted hope remains to be seen as a broad range of reform agendas to purge different government agencies and organizations is being conceived and proposed in the face of loathness from key political parties who are eager to see an election take place sooner than comprehensively expected.
Yet, the interim government sets a deadline for the poll by the latter half of this year or early 2026. This is now the talk of the town across the country.
However, there is a consensus among the mass people that a real democratic process could start only after the necessary reforms. But an uncertainty reigns over it as there is an old and proven cliché in our politics that history repeats itself every now and then in our beleaguered country with politicians taking little lessons from the history. This has raised questions which one should come first---reform or the election. Major political parties and political analysts are of the opinion that only an elected parliament has the right to implement reforms. Whether for reforms or for franchise rights there must be a national unity and broad consensus.
This time there may be no difference. After the ouster of the previous government on August 5, it was widely cherished that there would be an unfettered and democratic society in which people have nothing to worry if they have not done anything wrong. But the current situation shows signs of something ominous at the moment and days ahead.
In reality, what is happening now is considered, by and large, opposite to what was thought. By diminishing the spirit of the July-August uprising, an aura of intimidation with a sense of uncertainty is prevailing over the country. Many people whether they belong to any political party or not are in fear of being arrested or tarred with some allegations wantonly made by a group of sycophants close to the current interim administration or the parties eyeing formation of the next government following an election. For instance, hundreds of ghost and politically motivated murder and arson cases have been filed mainly against leaders and supporters of the Awami League along with numerous unidentified individuals. Several Advisers of the interim government have acknowledged such ill-intentioned unsavory practices and called on the perpetrators to refrain from committing such wrongdoings.
But their calls have fallen on deaf ears until now. As a result, their efforts to stop such ghost and false cases from lodging have not come to fruition. This means it does not bode well for our future political settlement.
Journalists have also fallen victim to that racket. Many journalists both from print and electronic media and on-line activists have already been put behind the bars and many more are facing mass arrests largely for false cases lodged against them. Some of them were held from airports and border points in such an awkward situation that was streamed on many television channels.
“Now time has come for our retrospection in order to have our media as
well as politics unspun. And that would be the rudimentary stage to
redeem our entire government machineries including security forces
because they are led and guided by the politicians and governments.”
Even senior and renowned journalists and journalist leaders were not spared the harassment. What was their fault? Does attending a former prime minister's press conference or having a simple and professional association with previous administration amount to committing crimes? But we are not in favor of any sort of impunity for those who had taken undue advantages during the past regime. Obviously, they should not get off scot free and they must be brought to book as per country's laws. Besides, a section of media mainly television channels have been steeped in yellow journalism by cashing in on the present situation. They are awash with inane chats full of innuendoes and smears as these electronic media have zeroed in on some senior and reputed journalists with sinister motives. Their 'talk shows' are nothing but a string of insolent tirades against some leading personalities in the society. These rants are just yelled at, in most cases, out of personal vendetta.
If not, how has a group of journalists been engaged in slandering image of their peers without smoking-gun type of evidence? Even leading journalists who were seen unequivocally demanding punishment for the much-talked about Sagor- Runi murderers are now made culpable of being complicit in that gruesome incident. Are all theses done in the name of new found free speech or free opinion? Then the question arises what kind of press freedom it is. Does it mean that some people are given a free-hand to dwarf and malign others to gain political and professional mileage?
Of late, aberrant and erratic police actions against journalists and politicians linked to the past regime have already been brought to light by several rights organizations. The New York-based rights watchdog, Human Rights Watch, in its latest report, noted arbitrarily arrests of journalists and Awami League supporters. This issue has already sparked a global outcry. HRW also pointed to an old tactic the security forces have continued to emulate. That is nothing other than filing criminal complaints against a large number of 'unnamed and unknown' people, a common abusive practice in our country. Similarly, Odhikar, a human rights organization, has raised the matter of police repression and subsequently brought it to the notice of the police authority and the interim government as well.
All these suggest that the police administration has been playing into the hands of a vested group that is lurking in the government. This is likely, once again, to make our police force scapegoat for others' misdeeds. Against this backdrop, the government at the fag-end of last year, had formed an eight-member committee to monitor false and bothersome cases against journalists and an 11-member media reform commission to recommend suggestions for upholding the freedom of the press and approved the draft of the Cyber Security Ordinance, 2024.
Although all these afore-mentioned initiatives have been aimed at ensuring free speech and press freedom, there are questions raised by the experts and civil society whether these measures will be able to protect journalists and the media as well.
For instance, the Transparency International Bangladesh has already called for the revision of the Cyber Security Ordinance pointing to the facts that the Ordinance has incorporated some controversial provisions and terminologies from the previous Cyber Security Act (CSA) and the Digital Security Act (DSA). It said that the Ordinance largely keeps the regulatory and surveillance mechanisms of the CSA and DSA, posing potential threats to freedom of expression, media independence, and citizens' rights to dissent and organise. Most importantly, Section 43 of DSA (Section 42 of CSA), which empowered police to search, seize and arrest without a warrant, has been retained as Section 35 of the Cyber Security Ordinance.
Now time has come for our retrospection in order to have our media as well as politics unspun. And that would be the rudimentary stage to redeem our entire government machineries including security forces because they are led and guided by the politicians and governments.
So, our politics needs to be revamped from top to bottom. It's a public demand and it must be put into practice. For this, it is incumbent on all the stakeholders including politicians, students, civil society, professional groups and people from all levels to come under one umbrella in order to snag our cherished dream of a real democratic system through which people can exercise their voting rights and build a country with no room for hatred, vengeance and discrimination.
Otherwise, all the blood we shed during the July-August uprising will count for nothing and we will be fated to have a government that will be like a new wine in old bottles. And democracy, rule of law, freedom of opinion and human rights will remain as a dream unaccomplished.
The writer is Senior Assistant Editor, the Daily Observer
