Big Brother is taping you

-- George Orwell, "1984"

In the time of the General, news media operated under strict controls. The urban adda circles were the main conduit for passing around information. On the Dhaka University campus, the talk would range from the serious (Jatiyo Party statements, AL-BNP's latest moves, the next hartal), to the frivolous (Ershad's golf game). But every now and then, as the talk heated up, one friend would always raise a finger to his lips and softly intone, "Shabdhan, dewal er o kaan ache (Careful, even the walls have ears.)"

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Not much has changed under democracy, AL and BNP style. Surveillance and intimidation are very much in play today. Regardless of which party is in power, activists are always at odds with the state. Drishtipat, a human rights group I'm a member of, was blasted by AL government for their campaign on behalf of journalist Tipu Sultan and then by BNP government for their campaign on behalf of Annadaprashad's Hindu villagers and the Ahmadiya Muslims. If you wash dirty laundry in public, you are tagged "enemy of state," "doing anti-state activities

abroad," etc ad nauseum. For NGOs and citizens groups working in human rights areas, government surveillance is a perpetual presence. Many activists I work with are always cautious in their e-mail and phone conversations, because the government is presumed to be bugging these exchanges.

Very soon, the pleasure of the security agencies' eyes and ears will be extended to millions of Bangladeshis, thanks to the freshly passed amendment to Telecoms Act 2001 which allows full government spying on citizens. Not only can the agencies now tap every phone call and e-mail, these

records can be used in a court as evidence. According to this amendment, they will also have the power to stop any communication they deem harmful to "national interests." In a time when internet and phone use is skyrocketing in Bangladesh, this new law will affect the lives of millions. There have been the predictable muted condemnations, but there has not been enough outrage. Something similar to the level of protests generated by unitary education proposal is necessary to stop this before Parliament ratifies the amendment in January 2006.

A friend responded to my frustration over this issue by saying, "Look, in Bangladesh, kon-ta chere kon-ta dhorbo? People have so many crises to worry about, they just get exhausted." But exhausted or not, if people understood how a law affects them, they would still take to the streets. A few years back, Grameen Phone changed a pricing plan and soon there were crowds of subscribers protesting outside their office. Today, if Bangla Link decided to serve a "Tok Komla" rather than a "Mishti" one through a rate increase, they would be besieged by angry protests. So people still have the capacity for outrage, but it needs to be channeled properly. Perhaps some feel that this law will only be used for "dabrano" of AL (and BNP when tables are turned), NGOs, and activists. As long as they keep their nose out of politics, they will be all right. But do things ever stay limited like that? At the height of Cold War paranoia, the United States was spying on innumerable numbers of its own citizens, and the FBI kept voluminous files on people (including people such as Martin Luther King). Is there any reason to believe that our government would behave any more reasonably?

There are now 9 million mobile phones, and an additional 1 million land phone subscribers in Bangladesh. Mobile phone usage had approximately 35 percent annual growth in the last four years. It was probably statistics like this that inspired Goldman Sachs to place us on their list of "Next 11 Economies" in a recent report. Grameen Phone, Bangla Link, Aktel, City Cell, and BTTB cell are now being joined by the Dhabi group. About 36 licenses have also been given for private land phone lines. Of these, four have already started business, including Rangs. As more private mobile, land and internet companies arrive, a ferocious fight for customers will result in more services for lower prices. The mobile phone is already a semi-mass tool, no longer limited to the city middle class. The same will soon happen to land lines and internet. A World Bank report in 2003 predicted that the total mobile addressable market in Bangladesh was only 13 million. That prediction has already proved to be too anemic. I predict mobile phone usage will double to reach the 20 million range in next two to three years. As our world turns upside down, a huge amount of daily transactions -- work, conversation, activism, buying and selling, etc -- will pass through these communication lines. And the government will be armed with the power to spy on every such movement, with potential for unlimited abuse.

Is it only activists who have to fear the government? Imagine this scenario. You are walking in Bashundhara City mall, buying a drink, talking to friends, flirting with girls. In the middle of this, someone calls your line and starts talking politics.

At some point, you make some casual joke about JMB. That night there is a knock on the door. Intelligence agencies are there, alerted by the conversation to think you have some link with JMB. You are dragged away to Dhaka Central Jail. It takes a week for you to get a hearing in front of a judge. Unless your family is well connected, it may be weeks or months before you finally get out of jail and end this nightmare. Does this sound like a far-fetched scenario? Remember the young Hindu man who was accused of sending threatening e-mails to Sheikh Hasina from an internet cafe? How long was he in jail before there was any due process?

Still think this law doesn't affect you?

The government claims these powers are necessary in order to stop suicide bombers. But is it phone surveillance that resulted in the recent captures? Or was it intelligence work, combined with JMB insiders who wanted to turn in their former comrades for reward money? In fact, the government has been trying to pass a law like this for a long time. According to research done by Asif Saleh of Drishtipat, on September 4, 2003, the Daily Star first reported a move to amend the Bangladesh Telecommunication Act 2001. The report said, "A leading intelligence agency backed by others has initiated the move. The agencies also want access to the subscribers' database of all fixed phone and cellular phone service providers and the internet service providers (ISPs)." Two years later, the JMB bombings have given the excuse needed to push this through on a scared population.

Popular protest and media coverage is beginning to chip away at other surveillance states. Last week, the New York Times revealed that President Bush secretly authorized the National Security Agency (NSA) to monitor the international telephone calls and e-mails of US citizens without court warrant. The revelation, with its echoes of 1970s' spying on anti-Vietnam war activists, provoked a storm of public protests. Kate Martin of the Centre for National Security Studies called it "an astounding and frightening incident of lawlessness." Hours after the report was published, the Senate rejected White House efforts to re-authorize key surveillance provisions in the Patriot Act. Several key Senators said the Times story was a key factor in changing their vote.

Can we look forward to moments such as this in Bangladesh as well? Shahjalal University's Zafar Iqbal was one of the key individuals spearheading the campaign against unitary track education. It's time for thousands of such citizens, and the telecommunications companies, to step forward to oppose this amendment before it is ratified in January 2006. Bangladesh's Big Brother moment has arrived, but people power can still pull him down.

Naeem Mohaiemen is director of Disappeared In America (disappearedinamerica.org), a film trilogy and art installation by artist-activists focusing on post 9/11 civil liberties and surveillance.