Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s exhortation that the journalists work with her to consolidate democracy sounds more like a threat than a claim that the government and journalists should work together.
The Daily Star reports that she rang out:
“Don’t do anything that might jeopardise democracy in the future.” Claiming that journalists help pass propaganda in the language of journalism, Hasina spoke to an iftar audience of Bangladeshi journalists. She then parsed out the meaning of concept of the freedom of the press by insisting that though a good concept journalists must guard against its misuse.
She then continued to make partisan points that sat well with the invited journalists. The AL government is working toward the welfare of the Bangladeshi people and will do everything in its power to set right the wrongs and murders committed under the BNP alliance government. For instance, she said:
“You all know how many projects we have been taking to resolve the power crisis. But, it also should be realised that it needs enough time to completely remove the electricity crisis, which was mainly created by the last BNP government,”
But hold on–step back a bit and think about Hasina’s claim here. P.M. Hasina is saying that though a concept, journalists risk misusing it. Freedom is unlimited, but not its use. Indeed, the use of freedoms associated with free association and the press are constrained in its use. Of course, all these conceptual freedom do all the work that claimed for them in their use. Consider also that Sheikh Hasina essentially outlines the only viable narrative that it is possible to draw in her government–that of the AL’s superior policy-making.
Hence, Sheikh Hasina is saying to a group of journalists that freedom of the press is not unconstrained and that were a narrative drawn against the AL government’s political moves, freedom of the press for those journalists would be curtailed,.
This is strong stuff. Indeed, it belies the government’s claim of broad freedoms and points to the government’s moves to constrain the press and contrarian media associations.
