Incidents of being harassed under legal provisions for expressing opinion is on the rise in Bangladesh over the last couple of years, says UK-based rights body Article 19.
In its recent report released on May 2, it said violations against free speech have “hit record levels last year”.
Bangladesh remains ranked at 146 out of 180 countries in latest press freedom index of Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
But the overall scenario worsened in the country, as the global score of the index rose to 48.62 this year from 48.36 in 2017.
According to the Article 19 report, the nature of violations has changed significantly.
“Cases of legal harassment of communicators rose from 33 in 2013 to 169 in 2017; meanwhile the use of physical force and assault as a silencing tactic dropped from 173 in 2013, to 113 in 2017,” it says.
Figures by the UK-based group say, 28 cases of serious bodily injuries were reported from Bangladesh in 2017, while 75 cases of minor assault, and 10 cases of abduction.
“In the 10 cases recorded, journalists were released after promising to refrain from publishing certain reports,” the Article 19 annual report says.
The report highlighted the murder of journalist Abdul Hakim Shimul, the Sirajganj-based correspondent of Bangla national Daily Samakal.
With rising violations against free speech in Bangladesh, analysts say that the media has resorted to somewhat of a self-censorship to safeguard itself.
Afsan Chowdhury, who has worked for several Dhaka-based news outlets, says journalists cannot be entirely blamed for the practice.
“Media owners never want to upset the government, so they opt for self-censorship through what is described as ‘house policy’,” he said while speaking to Bangla Tribune. “Some journalists favour censorship and some oppose it, but it’s all about taking advantage.”
Chowdhury, who now teaches at a university, says journalists are now ‘politicised’. “Some are in it for personal gains while for others it’s an ideological issue.”
He, however, described the RSF index based on an ‘extreme western point of view’.
“Journalists or news outlets in Bangladesh not running stories fearing militant attacks — that’s not the case,” says Chowdhury, who leads a research on the 1971 Liberation War.
Over RSF’s concern on the ICT Act’s Section 47, he said “That provision is more used in cases of Facebook posts not media reports.”
Jyotirmoy Barua, a lawyer who has stood for several people prosecuted under Section 57, says studies by global rights bodies do not highlight instances of reporters being physically assaulted at work as well as harassment by security forces.
According to him, a conscious decision to resort to self-censorship often stems from safety concerns.
“Reporters often become too engaged with their beats resulting biased reports,” said Barua before adding that activism is a major obstacle to objective journalism.
But political lenience is rampant among journalists in Bangladesh, according to Probhash Amin, the newsroom chief of a Dhaka-based TV channel.
“Often the case is, a journalist covering a specific political party like, the Awami League or the BNP, becomes a loyal,” said Amin, the head of news at ATN News.
Sharing his views on political affiliations of journalists, he says that is quite natural, but adds “However, that should not come in the way of objective reporting. Otherwise, it’s nothing but being dishonest to the profession and it’s happening.”
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