Not only has the regime changed in India’s neighbourhood, but Bangladesh has also gone through a complete transformation. The violent protests may have ended, but people are still out on the streets. Students from the anti-discrimination protest group are demanding justice and prosecution of the policemen who opened fire, killing several students, while the Hindu minority community is demanding security along with justice.
The country’s communication system is also changing. News from one protest to another, regardless of the political party or group, can be read in all newspapers and new stories can be seen on every new television channel.
This may seem like a normal practice in any democratic country, but Bangladeshi journalists call it extraordinary and call it a “breath of fresh air”.
After the departure of Sheikh Hasina, Bangladeshi journalists now feel free to write expressly. They say that this development has also changed the functioning of Bangladeshi media.
“The way of working in the media has indeed changed. Earlier, major media companies were run by pro-Awami League owners. There was self-censorship and often government bans under the new Cyber Crime Act, a draconian and dangerous law. More than 200 journalists were arrested under this law in the last 15 years during the Hasina regime,” Shoukat Mahmud, former president of the National Press Club Dhaka, told India Today.
Shaukat says the Prime Minister’s Office was open only to like-minded journalists and others were barred from even covering press conferences. “We saw a period that has never happened in Bangladesh before, when many newspapers’ online portals and channels were shut down as government communication officials would shut down broadcasts and intelligence teams would often intimidate journalists, virtually controlling the media,” he said.
Several news channels and media organisations were also attacked during the recent anti-discrimination protests by students across Bangladesh against the Sheikh Hasina government. Angry mobs attacked Bangladesh Channel 71, Somoy TV, ATN News and some others. Not only were the headquarters vandalised, but entire buildings were set on fire.
The press faculty of Dhaka say that now they have the freedom to write and express anything which is really a change and till now they have not seen any government interference which is a totally new experience for them in Bangladesh in last 15 years.
“The situation is completely different now. Under the previous government, journalists could not write facts. Media houses would hide facts, ignore the truth and only report the government agenda. Intelligence agencies would summon journalists over social media posts, ask them to delete posts and threaten them. We could cover opposition events, but there were restrictions on coverage critical of the government and its policies,” says SM Rashidul Islam, special correspondent for national news agency BSS.
“In this change and interim government, I feel like a breath of fresh air,” says Rashidul Islam.
Bangladesh had a digital protection law that was recently replaced with a new cyber law, which journalists believe was only used to suppress information critical of the Sheikh Hasina government.
“If someone files an exclusive story criticising the government, the government will try to suppress it if asked for a comment. We are now working independently without any pressure from any quarter, yet let’s see what happens next. The last few years have been difficult for us to work and report,” says S.M. Jahangir of the Financial Express, who works as a chief correspondent in Dhaka.
In a broad sense, there is confidence in the press that at this point in time there is no interference or pressure of any kind by the interim government and that they are currently able to report freely without fear.
Apart from Bangladesh’s national TV, the emergence of new private TV channels is something new in the country. There are 26 private satellite channels, including news and programs. 1,400 members of the media in Dhaka are registered with the Press Club. About 2,500 reporters are registered with the Dhaka Reporters Unity Group.
“The Sheikh Hasina government passed nine laws, notably a digital security law, which later became a cyber law, under which the police could pick up journalists even at midnight. Cartoonists were also arrested and died in police custody. The regime has been repressive towards the media,” says Mahfuz Alam, editor-in-chief of Dhaka’s largest English-language newspaper.
Groups of protesting students are also approaching the media and narrating different stories. The feeling of fear during protests is now vanishing. From junior reporters to senior members of the press fraternity, everyone feels the freedom to report and write and most importantly, they feel they have the right to disagree.
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