The draft of the Journalism Rights Protection Ordinance is expected to provide considerable safeguards for the journalism profession. The proposed ordinance consists of six chapters and twenty sections. Although the draft appears broadly beneficial, several amendments are essential. If the ordinance is issued verbatim based on the Commission’s recommendations without necessary revisions, it may produce the opposite effect—leading to increased harassment instead of protection. Faulty investigations, for example, may result in journalists facing imprisonment or fines if allegations are found to be unsubstantiated. Therefore, to avoid controversy or new problems after enactment, essential amendments must be made before the ordinance is passed.
Effective measures to curb such attempts are still not visible. Traffickers and sub-agents are deceiving young people with false promises of a better life and pushing them into illegal and life-threatening routes—this must stop immediately. The first step should be to identify and eliminate the travel agencies and middlemen involved in such crimes and bring every offender under the law. We believe people must also be made aware of the deadly risks of these journeys so that they do not fall for false promises and attempt to go abroad illegally for employment.
We are worried but not surprised by the results of the recent national survey revealing that around 80% of people in Bangladesh are increasingly concerned about mob violence. In addition, 56% of respondents were also concerned about women's safety, 61% about safety at night, and 67% about harassment based on clothing.
But there is one institution that sits quietly at the heart of every development story -- often overlooked, frequently criticized, and rarely reformed and that is the bureaucracy.
Although India may justify the decision on regulatory or quality control grounds, the abruptness and frequency of such measures raise questions about whether there is a strategic motive behind them.
Police sources cite extortion, petty disputes, turf wars, and past enmities as the primary causes behind these killings.
In Bangladesh, justice is traditionally measured by the punishment handed down to the guilty. A conviction, a sentence and a fine mark the formal end of a criminal case. But for the real person behind the case – the victim or their family, the question remains painful and mostly unanswered: what did they truly receive from this justice? The answer is somewhat frustrating.
