‘Information trapped in a culture of fear’

People’s right to information has a significant barricade in how questions are treated in Bangladesh, a leading rights activist has said.

Tahmina Rahman, director for Bangladesh and South Asia of London-based Article 19 that campaigns for the right to free expression and information, said there were many failures in taking the right to information law to the people.

She was speaking at a discussion for the five years of the Information Commission at bdnews24.com office on Saturday.

“We are trapped in a culture of fear. People don’t feel they have the right to go into government offices, so they lack the courage.”

“The offices are austere and their protocols are far from people-friendly.”

Information Commission in its five years has responded to 97 percent of queries, but the number of people seeking information has declined with time.

The process to seek information from the commission could be shortened and made simpler, said Rahman, and if applications were rejected the technical aspect behind it should be explained.

“Bureaucrats are often trained but for technical skills. They are not trained in a way that can change their mindsets for the better.”

Rahman mentioned that to improve services, the government should refrain from ‘frequent rotation of designated officers’.

“They should be allowed to serve for at least four to five years before moving onto play another role,” she said, citing a policy note on ways to bring a government closer to its citizens.

“Culture plays a massive role in how we treat information and its seeker,” said Rahman.

Going back to schooling in Bangladesh, she said the system, especially the public ones, were “cramming and non-interactive”.

“We aren’t habituated with asking questions,” she said, and if someone did that, authorities might feel intimidated.

The government had mass campaigns for nutrition, health but not on information, she said.