Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman has said press freedom must be ensured to safeguard democracy.
"The press freedom must be ensured to defend democracy," he said in a message issued on the occasion of the Black Day for Newspaper today.
Tarique Rahman said, "June 16, 1975, is a black day in the history of Bangladesh. On this day, the then rulers abolished all parties and established an extremely authoritarian one-party BAKSAL, allowing only 4 newspapers loyal to them to be published, leaving the entire nation gagged".
"As a result, a huge number of journalists working in various newspapers became unemployed. Their livelihood and the future of their children were subjected to extreme anarchy," he mentioned.
Tarique Rahman said, "The main spirit of our war of Liberation was to achieve geographical independence of Bangladesh and establish democracy. In traditional democracy, people's civic freedom is ensured and the main condition of which is freedom of speech, thought and expression."
"Since there is an opportunity to express dissent in the freedom of the press, the state and society come under accountability and the will of the citizens is reflected in the formation of the country's government," he said.
"But the rulers of the country betrayed the main spirit of the war of independence and stopped the path of multi-party democracy and established a one-party parliamentary system," Tarique Rahman said.
He also said, "Later, the great independence proclaimer, Shaheed President Ziaur Rahman re-introduced the desired multi-party democracy in this country. He re-established the freedom of the press by abolishing all kinds of undemocratic laws of the parliamentary government."
The BNP acting chairman said, "The deprivation of freedom of the press basically means to imprison thought and conscience. Like Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, his daughter Sheikh Hasina also followed the same path and reintroduced their true philosophy of a one-party system in a new form."
"They have continuously oppressed journalists and newspapers by enacting various old laws. Freedom of the media was taken away in Bangladesh. If you speak the truth, torture would be carried out. People at all levels, including media workers in Bangladesh, had to be constantly afraid," said Tarique Rahman.
He said, "The freedom of the press and expression was imprisoned in a terrible fortress by enacting one after another 'draconian laws' like the Digital Security Act and the Cyber Security Act," he said.
Tarique Rahman expressed his belief that freedom of the press is a fundamental element of multi-party democracy. To ensure the security and stability of democracy, freedom of the press must be ensured, he said.
Source: BSS