Documentary on Information as Right: use of RTI Act by civil rights activists.
Documentary on Information as Right: use of RTI Act by civil rights activists- Click for Watch.
Are our political parties ready for transparency and accountability?
Oct 15, 2025
FILE VISUAL: SHAIKH SULTANA JAHAN BADHON
An encouraging outcome of the protracted crisis confronting Bangladesh’s right to information (RTI) regime over the past year has been the growing attention the law has received from concerned citizens and civil society leaders. The July 2024 uprising further amplified the debates.
Out of this moment has emerged a clear public demand: to explicitly include political parties within the RTI Act’s definition of “public authorities.” Such inclusion is contested in most jurisdictions, most notably in neighbouring India, precisely because it would subject political parties, like other public-serving bodies, to statutory record-keeping and disclosure obligations. Unsurprisingly, many parties resist this expansion, wary that their internal records, finances, and decision-making processes could be scrutinised under the law.
A year of silence from the Information Commission
Sept 28, 2025
This year’s International Day for Universal Access to Information (IDUAI) arrives at a grim moment for Bangladesh. The Information Commission—the very body entrusted with upholding citizens’ access to public information—has been essentially inactive for over a year. One may recall that all three commissioners resigned in the aftermath of the 2024 July uprising and the assumption of power by the interim government. Since then, despite petitions, protests, and even a recent High Court rule, the vacuum has persisted. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has also failed to act on its own pledge in late July to reconstitute the commission by issuing a gazette notification “within a few days.”
Undoubtedly, the interim authorities face a daunting list of priorities. But the Right to Information Act, 2009 is not just another law. Unlike most legislation, which expands the authority of the state, this act empowers the citizens. It flips the balance of power by compelling public offices to disclose information long hidden from view. In doing so, it offers transparency where opacity has been the norm.
The hope of a new dawn for RTI and democracy
Aug 15, 2025
FILE VISUAL: ANWAR SOHEL
Two recent developments have alleviated, at least temporarily, the creeping despondency among right to information (RTI) enthusiasts in Bangladesh, which was triggered by the September 2024 departure of all three information commissioners, following the July uprising and the assumption of power by the interim government. The departure of the commissioners made the Information Commission of Bangladesh virtually dysfunctional.
The first development was the release of draft amendment to the RTI Act, 2009 by the information ministry last month, seeking inputs from citizens for further improvement to the law. The draft was based on the recommendations of Public Administration Reform Commission, one of several such commissions set up by the interim government to strengthen and safeguard democracy. It raised hope that the government was at last focusing on the beleaguered RTI Act, which is considered to be the most effective instrument for citizens to monitor the work of government bodies.
Citizens lament RTI paralysis in Bangladesh
Jun 15, 2025
Shamsul Bari and Ruhi Naz
FILE VISUAL: SHAIKH SULTANA JAHAN BADHON
“I think there is a deliberate attempt to downgrade the use of the RTI law. There are no protection mechanisms in place to protect whistleblowers, and we hear about so many incidences of corruption and malpractice daily, but how do you raise the alarm?”
This is a typical lament of an activist who uses Bangladesh’s Right to Information (RTI) Act 2009 to unearth corruption and hold the government to democratic account. Since the departure of the three Information Commissioners soon after the 2024 July uprising, this column has sought to draw the interim government’s attention to the urgent need to appoint a new set of commissioners. We emphasised that, apart from the urgent reform of various institutions and mechanisms of governance destroyed through past misrule, there was an overriding need to uphold the importance of citizens’ role in monitoring the work of all public authorities for better governance. This, we argued, can be advanced by conscious citizens’ unhindered use of the RTI law. We underlined that the emergence of an alert group of youthful citizens who spearheaded the uprising was propitious for better and more effective use of the law and for taking it forward.
