Harbinger of one-party rule

The government is trying to establish a one-party rule by implementing the "undemocratic" National Broadcast Policy, speakers told a discussion at Rajshahi University yesterday.
They demanded immediate cancellation of the policy, which they said ran counter to the Right to Information Act and the constitution.
"It is a black law," said Ruhul Amin Gazi, former president of a faction of the Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists (BFUJ), while addressing the discussion, organised by pro-BNP Nationalist Teachers Forum of RU.
The policy imposes restrictions on some contents of television and radio broadcasts involving the armed forces and law enforcement agencies.
Ruhul Amin said the government was going to stifle media since it wanted to establish like a dictatorial rule.
Prof Pias Karim of Brac University said the policy was conflicting with Article 29 of the constitution, which gave the people freedom of speech.
Referring to the government's move to empower parliament to impeach Supreme Court judges, the speakers said it would hamper the independence of the judiciary.
The Forum president Prof KBM Mahbubur Rahman also spoke among others.