55 educators decry arrests made under Digital Security Act

Fifty-three professors and teachers from universities across the country and beyond yesterday decried the arrest of Sirajum Munira, a teacher from Begum Rokeya University Rangpur.

Munira was arrested last Sunday for posting on social media about deceased former health minister Mohammed Nasim.

"The enthusiasm of the university administration and the ruling party student group, and the proactive role of the law enforcers in arresting this teacher, was very apparent," said a joint statement, calling the arrest the latest example of shrinking democratic rights.

In addition, two students -- one from Shahjalal University of Science and Technology in Sylhet and another from Islamic University in Kushtia -- were arrested and suspended for similar reasons, noted the statement.

They pointed that these arrests have been a defining feature of this pandemic -- since the pandemic started, the Digital Security Act has been used indiscriminately to target bloggers, cartoonists, journalists, teachers from schools, colleges and universities, and even relief-distributing volunteers.

"We want to make it clear that threatening, prosecuting or arresting citizens for stating their political opinions is a violation of Article 39 of the constitution, and therefore, this is not a right possessed by the state, government or the ruling party," it said.

Maintaining etiquette in cyberspaces can only be done through community management, not through the use of any "illogical, malicious criminal law," the statement observed. 

The professors stated that the aim of the Digital Security Act is not to make safe cyberspaces, but rather to restrict platforms that can be used by citizens to demand their rights or critique the government.

"Arresting people for criticising the government on social media is having the opposite effect of hampering the government's image in the international sphere," said the professors.

"We are not just angry because the teacher was our colleague, but because this arrest will hamper the platforms of online education, and impact the students. The law enables prosecution for general disagreements between students and teachers during virtual discussions, and destroys the psychological space needed for teaching and learning," the statement said.

"We fear that DSA is being used as an attempt to hide lawlessness. As an example, we can say that the promptness with which action was taken against Munira was completely nonexistent in the case of the university's own vice-chancellor who had in the past gained media notoriety for being absent from the premises for a record number of days," observed the teachers.

They demanded the immediate release of all those arrested under the law.

The statement was signed by Prof Anu Muhammad, Prof Sayeed Ferdous, Prof Mahmudul Sumon, Prof Swadhin Sen from Jahangirnagar University; Prof Kamrul Hasan, Prof Gitiara Nasreen, Prof Kajali Shehreen Islam, Prof Fahmidul Haq, Prof Samina Luthfa from Dhaka University; Prof Dina M Siddiqui from New York University, as well as teachers from University of Chittagong, University of Rajshahi, University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh, North South University, Cumilla University, Bangladesh Agricultural University , Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, Sylhet Agricultural University and East West University.