The Washington talks

Foreign Minister Dipu Moni's talks with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Washington on Wednesday brought into focus a fairly good number of issues that concern both Dhaka and Washington. On the positive side, the Bangladesh minister's emphasis on the need for our goods to be allowed duty free access to the American market is surely a sign of what we need to do for our economy to diversify globally. Additionally, Mrs. Clinton's response regarding the extradition of a killer of Bangabandhu is encouraging. That the legal process will be applied to the matter and that the State Department will be keeping a tab on the issue goes down well with us.
That Mrs. Clinton would raise such issues as press freedom and NGOs in Bangladesh with Dr. Dipu Moni is not surprising given their importance in the present context. In recent weeks, with the government seriously deliberating on such probable moves as a law that could well leave the electronic media in a straitjacket, large sections of people have begun to worry. We are, however, reassured by the fact that a parliamentary sub-committee has recommended taking the views of all stakeholders on the matter before a decision is reached.
Obviously, such thoughts on the part of the government make us wary inasmuch as they make people abroad concerned over the future of the media. We believe that at a time when the government itself loses no opportunity of reasserting its goal of deepening democracy through such acts as the RTI, any move to put a leash on the media will affect the course of a free and reliable flow of authentic information. Such an approach can only leave the government itself facing questions of credibility. The country needs good governance, but when truth becomes a casualty -- and it will if the government tries to regulate the media -- governance simply dwindles into the pointless.
The government has its plate full of problems it must tackle with wisdom. It is only right and proper that it handle those, to public satisfaction, instead of seeing the plate getting deluged with issues which in a democracy are really non-issues. The country will then be served better.