'Evil spirit of Baksal'

Branding the Digital Security Act as an 'evil spirit of Baksal', BNP yesterday alleged that the government has enacted the law to hide its 'massive corruption' and gag the media and people's voice.

Speaking at a press conference at BNP's Nayapaltan central office, party senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi also called upon the country's people, journalists and those who believe in free-thinking, to put up a resistance against it.

“The controversial Digital Security Bill was passed in parliament yesterday (Wednesday) to gag the media and shut the mouths of people of Bangladesh. This law is an evil spirit of Baksal,” he said.

The BNP leader further said, “This black law was formulated to conceal the corruption of the government's lakhs of crore taka.”

He said the law was also made so that no mass media or any other platform can publish any report on the government's corruption.

“People's freedom of speech and their individual overall freedom have been snatched through the black law,” he observed.

Rizvi also alleged the law will contribute to rise in offences like corruption and human rights violation, and said articles 8, 21, 25, 28, 29, 31, 32 and 43 of it are unconstitutional.

The BNP leader also said the Digital Security Act has put people's security under a threat, as law enforcers now will be able to raid media outlets, seize computers and other equipment and arrest anyone without any warrant. He feared that common people will also be affected by it.