It is being said that journalists will be exempted from the provisions made in the new law to deal with defamation. In the new law, instead of sending them to jail, they will be fined. In December 2021, Law Minister Anisul Haque had said that direct cases would not be registered against journalists under the DSA, they would not be detained immediately. The Constitution gives equal rights to all citizens, so it is questionable how the Law Minister made such a sweeping statement. Following his meeting with Eamon Gilmore, the EU Special Representative for Human Rights on 25 July, Anisul Haque told the media, “Journalists will be pleased with the amendment to the DSA.” It seems from such things that the aim of the government is to please the media separately.
This tendency to please certain groups is against the rule of law. The Public Service Act 2018 also has provisions to appease government officials. Section 41 of this law states that, “Approval from the government or the employing agency is necessary for the arrest of public servants before a court can admit them on charges relating to their official duties.” An amendment to this was passed in Parliament on July 4 this year, in which compensation was also provided to public servants of autonomous organizations, state institutions and local government organizations. Therefore, these attempts to ‘please’ journalists are cause for concern.
When the DSA was enacted in 2018, there were all kinds of recommendations from different sectors. The government claimed that discussions have been held with the stakeholders, their views have been considered. But we are well aware of the end result. And in the matter of this new law, the stakeholders were not even consulted. Yet the law minister is hopeful that “this law will be passed” in the national parliament session this September. What does it signify when a law is being passed so quickly, without citizens and stakeholders even seeing its draft?
It is necessary to probe why the government is so eager to rename the DSA and introduce a law in a new guise. The government is under pressure from the streets and from foreign circles regarding the upcoming elections. The Government is at present anxious to show to foreigners that it is taking into consideration the objections of foreign quarters regarding the repressive laws. The government probably hopes that this will reduce the pressure from outside and the focus of the discussion may deviate to some extent.
Moreover, while there are calls for repealing this law from more or less all sections within the country, the government might want to make some changes here and there to trigger a discussion that obscures the real purpose of such a law . We have to remind again that the Law Minister had said, “Almost all the provisions of the Digital Security Act will be retained in the new law.”
* Ali Riaz is Distinguished Professor in the Department of Politics and Government at Illinois State University in the US, Atlantic Council Senior Fellow and President of the American Institute of Bangladesh Studies.
