Minister sees ‘no reason’ to heed calls for repeal of digital security law

Information Minister Hasan Mahmud sees no reason to pay attention to the demand for the repeal of the Digital Security Act after the prison death of writer Mushtaq Ahmed detained under the same law.

“There are many citizens in Bangladesh. We don’t have to do something just because a small group wants us to,” Mahmud said while speaking to journalists at the ministry on Thursday.

Nagorik Somaj, a platform of different organisations led by Zafrullah Chowdhury, trustee of the Gonoshasthaya Kendra, staged a rally on Wednesday demanding that the act be repealed by Mar 26.

Protesters marched towards the Prime Minister’s Office protesting the death of Mushtaq. Zonayed Saki, the chief convener of Ganasanghati Andolan, said they would organise fresh protests if the demand was not met by the time.

“Those who give speeches and always speak out against the government do not represent all citizens. There are many more civilised social representatives in Bangladesh,” Mahmud said.

He said that the law was designed to give people security in the digital world. “When it wasn’t a digital world, the law wasn’t there either. When we entered the digital world, the need for such security emerged.”

Mentioning that different countries in the world, including India, had such law in place, the Awami League leader said, “People are being arrested and penalised in those places under this law. But we are cautious about not letting it be misused.”

The Rapid Action Battalion arrested Mushtaq in May last year on charges of propagating disinformation against the government on social media. The 53-year-old died at Kashimpur High Security Prison in Gazipur on Feb 25 after being denied bail in court six times.

Mushtaq had no reported ailment. On Wednesday, a committee formed by the home ministry to investigate his death said that Mushtaq had died of “natural causes”.

The authorities on Thursday freed his co-accused cartoonist Ahmed Kabir Kishore on bail following a wave of protests triggered by Mushtaq’s death in the capital and other parts of the country.

The calls for the repeal of the Digital Security Act have grown amid the protests.

The National Human Rights Commission condemned Mushtaq’s prison death describing it as a “serious violation of human rights”.

“If a law has to be repealed when someone is arrested under that law and dies in prison - be it for natural or any other causes -- then all laws in Bangladesh can be questioned. Because other laws have to be scrapped as well when people arrested under those laws die in prison,” Mahmud said.