The Sampadak Parishad (Editors' Council) has postponed tomorrow's human chain, which was called denouncing the passage of the Digital Security Bill 2018, upon request from Information Minister Hasanul Haq Inu.

It also welcomed the minister's offer for talks on the bill on Sunday.

The Parishad made the move a day after the minister issued a letter to it requesting postponement of the human chain and proposing discussions.

In a press statement, Mahfuz Anam, general secretary of the Parishad, said all the stakeholders of the media, including the editors' platform, thought that the recently passed Digital Security Bill was a serious blow to media freedom.

“We had expressed our concerns to the government over the bill before its passage. Even during the parliamentary committee meetings, the Parishad and other stakeholders had made specific objections and registered protests against certain sections of the bill.

“The opposition lawmakers too demanded that the bill is not passed in parliament. The way the government passed the bill by voice vote, ignoring all oppositions and objections, was considered regretful.”

The statement further said, “Against such a backdrop, we had no alternative but to take to the streets. As part of that, the Parishad had decided to form a human chain in front of the Jatiya Press Club on September 29. Different journalist organisations, including Dhaka Reporters Unity, also decided to stage similar protests.

“In this context, Information Minister Hasanul Haq Inu took into account the concerns of Sampadak Parishad and proposed talks with the Parishad and other stakeholders in the media on September 30 [Sunday]. We welcome this proposal and have decided to postpone the human chain scheduled for September 29.

“We are always interested to solve a problem through discussions. In the past, we responded positively whenever the minister proposed any discussion; although we can't say those were fruitful.

“This time, we expect the sections of the bill, which may gag the media, will be removed following the proposed discussion. However, we will continue to register our protest if that does not happen. We hope that the government will take initiatives to amend the bill, considering the concerns of all stakeholders of the media.”