Attack on Press in Bangladesh has entered an unprecedented and dangerous phase, as an unelected and unconstitutional regime moves to formalize media repression through law. For the first time in the country’s history, an illegal government that seized power through orchestrated street violence is drafting legislation in direct violation of the Constitution to silence broadcasters and journalists. The proposed Broadcasting Ordinance 2026 is not reform—it is a blueprint for authoritarian control.
Since Muhammad Yunus assumed power by toppling an elected government following the violent events of July 2024, every major institution has come under systematic pressure. Now, the final obstacle standing between the regime and total control is the media. This is precisely why the Attack on Press in Bangladesh has intensified under the cover of legal language and manufactured urgency.
Attack on Press in Bangladesh and the Constitutional Violation
Article 39 of the Constitution of Bangladesh guarantees freedom of speech, expression, and the press as fundamental rights. The Broadcasting Ordinance 2026 openly contradicts this provision. It introduces vague and undefined terms such as “against public interest,” “hate-based content,” and “threats to national security,” granting unchecked authority to the state to silence any critical voice.
Who defines “public interest”? An unelected government with no popular mandate? Allowing such a regime to decide what the public may hear or see is nothing short of constitutional mockery. This Attack on Press in Bangladesh is being carried out not by force alone, but through the weaponization of ambiguity.
A Rushed Ordinance Designed to Exclude Public Scrutiny
The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting released the draft ordinance on January 28 and allowed just four days—until January 31—for feedback. Four days to reshape the entire broadcasting framework of a nation. This was not incompetence; it was calculated exclusion.
The timing exposes intent. Elections are ongoing, public attention is divided, and voter engagement dominates national discourse. Exploiting this distraction, the regime attempted to quietly push through a black law. The claim that the interim government lacks time is absurd. A government without legitimacy has no authority to rush irreversible decisions. This haste only deepens the Attack on Press in Bangladesh.
Experts Deliberately Shut Out of the Process
Broadcast Journalist Center Chairman Rezwanul Haque warned that no sustainable outcome can emerge from such rushed policymaking. Media academics echoed the concern. Faculty members from Dhaka University, Jahangirnagar University, and ULAB confirmed that they were never consulted.
ULAB Dean M. Suman Rahman explicitly stated that no experts were involved in drafting the ordinance. This exclusion was intentional. Experts would question legality, constitutionality, and global media standards. Silencing expertise is a key tactic in the ongoing Attack on Press in Bangladesh.
Administrative Control Replacing Judicial Protection
One of the most alarming elements of the ordinance is that broadcast licenses can be suspended or revoked through administrative decisions alone. Judicial oversight is minimized, compensation mechanisms are absent, and access to effective legal remedy is curtailed.
This violates Articles 31 and 44 of the Constitution, which guarantee protection of law and the right to constitutional remedies. A regime born through constitutional violation predictably shows no respect for constitutional safeguards. The Attack on Press in Bangladesh is being institutionalized through executive overreach.
Silence from the Information Adviser Speaks Volumes
Syeda Rizwana Hasan, currently overseeing the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, has remained silent despite repeated queries from journalists. This silence is not neutrality; it is endorsement. An adviser accountable to the public refusing to respond on an issue of such magnitude signals complicity.
Media pressure existed even under her predecessor Mahfuz Alam. Since her takeover, the pressure has escalated into direct legal intimidation. The transition from informal coercion to formal legislation marks a new stage in the Attack on Press in Bangladesh.
Why the Truth Must Be Silenced
The July 2024 violence involved foreign funding, Islamist militant participation, and tacit military backing. These facts threaten the legitimacy of the current regime. Independent media remains the only platform capable of exposing these realities.
This ordinance ensures that any broadcaster revisiting these truths can be accused of harming national security. Investigative journalism will be reframed as hate speech. This is not governance—it is censorship by design, and a core feature of the Attack on Press in Bangladesh.
Foreign Influence and Media Control
International patrons backing Yunus favor a tightly controlled media ecosystem—one that amplifies approved narratives while suppressing dissent. The Broadcasting Ordinance 2026 serves those interests. Yunus, who accumulated wealth by extracting interest from the poor, now appears willing to trade national sovereignty and media freedom to satisfy external backers.
This external dimension further entrenches the Attack on Press in Bangladesh, turning the media into an instrument of foreign-aligned power rather than public accountability.
A Direct Path Toward Authoritarianism
An unelected government with no mandate is attempting to silence the people’s voice through law. This is textbook authoritarianism. Ironically, those who claimed to oppose fascism are now practicing it openly—without even the fig leaf of electoral legitimacy.
If enacted, the ordinance will end meaningful media freedom in Bangladesh. Television channels will function as state mouthpieces. Journalists will operate under fear. Truth will become a punishable offense. This outcome is not accidental—it is the goal of the ongoing Attack on Press in Bangladesh.
Conclusion: A Black Law Pushed in Secrecy
The attempt to pass this ordinance during an election period, when public focus is elsewhere, reveals the regime’s moral bankruptcy. They know open debate would trigger resistance. Secrecy is their shield.
The Attack on Press in Bangladesh is no longer theoretical. It is unfolding in real time, through legislation designed to suppress truth and criminalize dissent. If this ordinance passes, Bangladesh will cross a point of no return for press freedom.
