Where Are Freedom of Speech and Human Rights? Arrests for Comments on Tarique Rahman Raise Questions About Rights and Due Process

Opinion

A festival of silence for fear of protecting the mattress: What darkness is the country heading towards?

Blinded by the lust for power, the current authoritarian government has today suppressed the fundamental rights and freedom of speech of the people. Using the administration for fear of criticism, one by one citizens are being picked up for the crime of sharing a single comment, post or video about Prime Minister Tarique Rahman. The state has been turned into a terrifying prison by taking away the rights of the common man.

Naked images of repression and legal farce

One after another, the law enforcement agencies are staging elaborate dramas to erase freedom of expression. Some recent incidents are glaring examples of this:

• 27 March 2026 (Muktagachha, Mymensingh):** Azizul Haque was arrested for sharing a Facebook post about Tarique Rahman. He was charged under the Cyber ​​Security Ordinance and the Anti-Terrorism Act.
• Early September, 2026 (Gazipur):** Sifat Abdullah was picked up and sent to prison under the Anti-Terrorism Act on fabricated charges of insulting Tarique Rahman on social media—an extreme misuse of the law.
• 18 September 2026 (Sylhet):** Mehedi Ahmed was arrested at night on the pretext of making objectionable comments about Tarique Rahman on Facebook. The police admitted that there was no basis for filing a specific case regarding the post. However, he was imprisoned in an old case.
• 18 September 2026 (Meherpur):** The incident of arresting Sanjay Kumar Das for publishing a video about Tarique Rahman is also related to the same source. This culture of harassing dissidents in the name of cyber surveillance has taken an extreme form.

This trend of showing arrests in other cases without finding a direct legal basis for a Facebook post or comment is a farce with the rule of law. Today, arbitrariness is being practiced by pointing the thumbs up at the protection of individual freedoms guaranteed in Articles 31 and 32 of the Constitution.

The real picture of the pages of the constitution and the Kalakanun

Article 39 of the Constitution guarantees freedom of speech and expression to every citizen. However, today, that constitutional right is being trampled upon due to fear of criticism of Prime Minister Tarique Rahman. The administration has forgotten the common sense that arrest does not prove guilt. This madness of suppressing people’s voices by force of power before they are brought before the court cannot be a sign of a healthy state.

The people’s urgent questions to the government

Who gave you the license to frame people in different cases on the pretext of a post about Prime Minister Tarique Rahman on social media without any specific legal basis?

Have the anti-terrorism laws and cyber ordinances been used as tools to suppress dissent?

Is freedom of speech in Article 39 of the Constitution only for flatterers?

Power is not permanent; this arbitrariness will not last forever. This culture of suppressing the voice of citizens in the name of law enforcement must be broken. Loud voices are needed in this fight to protect freedom of speech!

-Roudra Rudra,
Political and Security Analyst