DHAKA: As the general elections in Bangladesh are due next year, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajid is going ahead with her persecution campaign to crush the opposition parties and critics, including the journalists.
Bangladesh National Party and Jamaat-e-Islami have been bearing the onslaught of Hasina Wajid since 2009. Whilst Khalida Zia of the Bangladesh National Party has faced frequent arrests/ detentions, the party’s Senior Vice Chairman, Tariq Rahman, has been forced to live in exile in the United Kingdom.
A number of Jamaat-e-Islami leaders have been sent to the gallows under trumped-up charges of treason/sham trial. The JI leaders that were hanged include Mir Quasem Ali, Abdul Quoader Mollah, Matiur Rahman Nizami, Mohammad Qamaruzzaman, and Ali Ihsam Mohammad Mujaheed.
The journalists, writers, and critics highlighting fascism are being harassed. Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), which was established after 9/11 with the support of the United States and other countries to counter terrorism, is being used against opposition politicians and dissenting voices. Presently, the media has been put on the chopping block.
Media Censorship in Bangladesh
The journalists not toeing the government line are detained under so-called charges of sedition. Digital Security Act (DSA), 2018, anti-cybercrime law aiming to stop the propaganda and extremist material online, and Info and Communication Technology Act, 2006, are being misused. Between January 2020 and February 2022, at least 2244 individuals were accused and detained under DSA in 890 cases. The government and its supporters have targeted sixty-three journalists in the first three months of the current year.
The judiciary has been made pliant to pronounce politically motivated judgments against critics. Teachers, professors, intellectuals, and civil society members seen as threats to Hasina Wajid’s dictatorial regime are being intimidated through different tactics. A renowned economist and Nobel Laureate, Muhammad Yunus was hounded and persecuted so much that he fled Bangladesh and now living in the United States.
Amnesty International and other Human Rights Watchdogs, including International Media bodies, have been raising their voice against increasing fascism in Bangladesh. But Hasina is on the rampage and conniving with different institutions to secure another term in office in the elections next year.
