In a fractured society with political turmoil and journalists in prison, where next for Bangladesh?
By CJA Executive Committee member SYED BADRUL AHSAN In the aftermath of everything that has been happening in Bangladesh since August last year and especially in light of the vandalism which took place in some cities this week on a day that should have been given over to expressing solidarity with Palestine on the Gaza […]
Is this the year the Commonwealth gets serious about press freedom?
By WILLIAM HORSLEY, CJA Executive Committee member and International Director of the Centre for Freedom of the Media. Eight years have passed since CJA members from around the world met at our Congress in London, and voted to work with like-minded Commonwealth civil society associations to get the member states to accept a set of […]
How the Ugandan Asians turned from adversity to success
Former CJA President President Mahendra Ved looks back at the expulsion of Ugandan Indians in the 1970s The first encounter this New Delhi-based journalist had with Indians, mostly Gujaratis, who had been expelled from Uganda, was in 1972. They had been put on a flight to India against their wishes. Squatting at the British High Commission added […]
How one man’s shadow looms large over Pakistan’s political chaos
Picture shows supporters of Pakistan Tehril-e-Insaf outside a provincial election commission office in Karachi. By Syed Badrul Ahsan The general election in Pakistan on 8 February has only deepened the crisis in the country. Of course, a positive aspect of the voting is that as many as 128 million Pakistanis went out to cast their […]
Rethinking what decolonisation really means
Decolonisation – challenging and undoing deep-rooted power structures and promoting marginalised voices to forge a more equitable and just global order – was the theme of the London University Diplomatic Summit. It examined efforts in international relations to dismantle power dynamics, ideologies, and structures rooted in colonialism, writes CHES STUPAK, president of the International Relations […]
Can the new regime in Bangladesh learn the lessons of the past?
Picture shows protesters climbing a public monument in Dhaka as they celebrate the downfall of Sheikh Hasina’s government. By CJA Executive Committee member SYED BADRUL AHSAN. This article first appeared in Open The Magazine, a leading Indian journal dealing in politics. The collapse of the Awami League government in Bangladesh on 5 August was as […]
A Ghanaian family’s relentless search for justice
By Jonathan Rozen and Evelyn Okakwu of the COMMITTEE TO PROTECT JOURNALISTS, who first published this article. Kamilu Ibrahim Tahidu and his brothers gather every evening outside their family home in the Ghanaian capital, Accra. They sit in a circle of plastic chairs and enjoy each other’s company. They pray together. And they never forget that one […]
New page for India as democracy triumphs
SYED BADRUL AHSAN reflects on how a divided election result shows a political maturity. Good elections anywhere cheer the soul. A good election underscores the principle of democracy in a society, enables citizens to reassert their dominance as the repository of power in a state. And those elected to office hold that power in trust […]
“To protect the truth, we must protect the truth-tellers”
Commonwealth Law Ministers unanimously adopted the Commonwealth Media Principles on Freedom of Expression and the Role of the Media in Good Governance. How will these principles expand upon the Commonwealth Charter’s Article 5 on Freedom of Expression, asks WILLIAM HORSLEY, International Director of the Centre for Freedom of the Media, and CJA Executive Committee member. […]
Towards press freedom … new hope or false dawn?
This account of the debate on World Press Freedom Day, at the House of Lords in London, By WILLIAM HORSLEY, international director of the Centre for Freedom of the Media, and CJA Executive Committee member. The event was organised by the CFOM, with the support of the CJA and the Association of European Journalists. The 2023 […]