Nat'l Flag, Anthem: JS body for criminalising desecration

A parliamentary standing committee yesterday proposed making desecration of the national flag and national anthem a criminal offense punishable with jail or fine or both.

The committee on post, telecom and ICT at a meeting at the parliament made the proposal to incorporate the provision to the proposed Digital Security Act.

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According to the proposal, the punishment for desecration of the national flag and national anthem will be up to 14 years in jail or Tk 1 crore in fine or both.

The committee had earlier put forth a proposal to amend some sections of the bill following a meeting with editors, journalists and media representatives.

After finalising the amendments, the committee will place a report to parliament to get it passed, said sources.

It also proposed keeping a representative of Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists in the Digital Security Council under section-12.

The sources also said the standing committee suggested amending section-5 by adding two posts of directors with the director general of the Digital Security Agency.

Emerging from yesterday's meeting at the parliament, Imran Ahmed, chairman of the JS body, said they had several meetings with representatives of the media and would accept some of the journalists' proposals and might discard some.

Law Minister Anisul Huq, State Minister for ICT Zunaid Ahmed Palak and Telecom and ICT Minister Mustafa Jabbar, attended the meeting.

The cabinet on January 29 approved the draft act.

Local rights activists and journalists have raised voice over the draft act, saying they were worried about the proposed law.

The European Union and 10 countries including the USA and the UK have expressed concern over several sections of the proposed Digital Security Act-2018, saying it would “suppress freedom of expression in multiple ways”.