Information Minister and Awami League Joint General Secretary Dr. Hasan Mahmud said that the government has made the Internet accessible to all through Digital Bangladesh policy and BNP is abusing that advantage to commit digital propaganda-crime with ‘paid agents’, which is never appropriate.
He opined so in response to a question from journalists after an introductory meeting with the newly elected committee of the Secretariat Bangladesh Secretariat Reporters Forum (BSRF) on Monday afternoon.
In response to a question about BNP Secretary General’s statement on ‘controlling and shutting down the Internet and taking away people’s rights’, Broadcasting Minister Hasan said, ‘I would request Mr. Mirza Fakhrul to look back. During his tenure, 50 million people were using the internet in the country. Now 13 crore people use internet. In 2008, it was our government that made the internet accessible to the masses with the slogan of Digital Bangladesh.
The information minister said, ‘We do not control the internet in any way, but the BNP uses its ‘paid agents’ to slander the country and the government from inside and outside the country and denigrate the character of the government party leaders starting from ministers, spread false propaganda and spread rumors. Their hiring of ‘paid agents’ has already been proven, audio clips of some have been leaked, as some have expressed regret – not paying the amount they were supposed to, so he’s not doing much for now. We also have pictures of Tariq Rahman’s regular meetings with such ‘paid agents’ and the government has made it possible for them to do all this which is never appropriate, they are digital crimes.’
Stating that there are various laws to control this digital crime around the world, Hasan Mahmud said, the European Union has recently passed a law that every social media platform must be registered in the respective countries of the European Union. That law has also been passed in India. We have not yet passed that law, they are requested to register here.
The minister said that in many countries of the world, social media platforms have been closed from time to time, measures have been taken. It has never been done in our country. Where did Mr. Mirza Fakhrul get such strange words! He actually held a press conference on Sunday to defend the digital criminals, the ‘paid agents’ they have.
He said, in fact, Mirza Fakhrul should thank the government because, today, by using digital technology, he talks to his daughters in Australia on video calls, has video conference meetings with their chairman, these opportunities have been made possible by the current government of Sheikh Hasina, and they were not there before.
Awami League joint general secretary Hasan said, “We want BNP to participate with full strength in the upcoming elections” in response to BNP leaders’ comments that ‘BNP is being arrested so that its leaders and workers cannot participate in the elections’. On the one hand, Mirza Fakhrul is saying that he should not go to the elections, and he says that the government wants to prevent them from the elections. We do not want to stop anyone from voting. We want the BNP to come to the election in accordance with the constitution, in the light of the constitution.
He said, ‘From the speech of the BNP secretary general, it is understood that they want to come to the election, but they are unable to take a decision due to some invisible hold of their leadership. This is evident in the statement of Mr. Mirza Fakhrul. I request them to free themselves from that invisible clutch and take the BNP party to the people.’
Earlier, congratulating the new committee of Bangladesh Secretariat Reporters Forum, Information and Broadcasting Minister said, the work of collecting and serving news in the secretariat is very important because you work to connect the people with the government. At the same time, if there are any mistakes of the government, they are often brought up through you. People working here are very experienced. Also, Press Institute can arrange training for your members if required.
BSRF President Fasih Uddin Mahtab and General Secretary Masudul Haque spoke on the occasion and the Vice President of the organization Munna Raihan, Joint General Secretary Mehdi Azad Masum, Organizational Secretary Tawhidul Islam, Finance Secretary Shafiullah Sumon, Office Secretary Shahadat Hossain, Publicity and Publication Secretary Bijan Kumar Das, Training and Research Secretary Farooq Alam, Executive Members Jharna Roy, Asad Al Mahmud, Ubaidullah Badal , Mizanur Rahman Chowdhury, Ibrahim Mahmud Akash, Rakib Hasan and Mohsinul Karim Lebu felicitated the minister with flowers.