The Digital Security Act (DSA) 2018 has been making the lives of citizens even more unsafe, said speakers at a memorial meeting yesterday.
They also said the government has created a culture of fear to maintain its illegal power and DSA is one of its weapons. In light of the upcoming election, the government is in the process of making some more dangerous laws, namely the Data Protection Act and the Digital Business Act.
Speakers urged the citizens to create a larger movement to abolish all the laws that are repressive and opposed to the interest of the people, including the Digital Security Act.
To commemorate the second death anniversary of the writer Mushtaq Ahmed, who was arrested in a case filed under the DSA and later died in jail in 2021, the meeting was held at Gonoshasthaya Nagar Hospital in the capital’s Dhanmondi.
Speakers also urged the government to compensate all the victims of the DSA, bring the accomplices of false cases to justice and make the absolute power of the government accountable for making such laws.
Environmentalist Syeda Rezwana Hasan said the weapons of the authoritarian or autocratic government are the repressive laws that they use to silence the protesting people so that the actual criminals can carry out activities like illegal sand mining, hill cutting, deforestation, and other destructive activities without any hindrance.
“These laws not only violate the rights of the affected people but also trample on their fundamental rights, causing immense suffering to them and their families,” she said.
Prof Asif Nazrul of Dhaka University’s law department described DSA as the most heinous law in the country’s history, calling for its abolishment, compensation for the affected people and the prosecution of the false accusers.
Addressing those citizens who are not yet vocal on the issue, photographer and social activist Shahidul Alam said they have to be questioned for their silence.
Ganasanghati Andolan Coordinator Jonaed Saki said the mere abolishment of such laws will not be enough, rather, the system needs to be changed to ensure the rights of the people.
Mahmudur Rahman Manna, president of Nagorik Oikko; journalist Shafiqul Islam Kajol; Shushashoner Jonno Nagorik (Shujan) secretary Badiul Alam Majumdar; and Didarul Islam Bhuiyan, economic affairs coordinator of the Rastra Sangskar Andolan; spoke at the event, among others.
The meeting was moderated by architect Golam Mahfuz Joardar, who was also tortured in police custody after being arrested under a DSA case.