Govt should be lauded for Anti-Discrimination Bill

We commend the government for placing the much-awaited Anti-Discrimination Bill in parliament. The bill aims to protect and ensure equal rights and dignity of every citizen in Bangladesh. Once passed into law and enforced, the bill is supposed to prevent all forms of discrimination in light of the constitution. What it means is that if any citizen of the country faces any form of discrimination anywhere in society—be it government or private offices, public places or educational institutions—they will have a scope to lodge complaint under this law and seek redress.

It is good to know that the law will address some basic issues that ordinary people often face while going about their day-to-day activities. According to the draft law, it will be considered discriminatory if a person prevents, controls or restricts the entry or presence of any person or group in public places or government, semi-government, autonomous and private office services. Under this law, no children can be obstructed to enrol in any educational institution or be expelled from it based on discriminatory treatment. Moreover, the house owners will face repercussions if they refuse to rent out to any individual or group or impose any strict conditions on them.

We think this law can also be a powerful tool to ensure the rights and uphold the dignity of the marginalised people, including persons with disabilities, Dalits, Harijans, indigenous peoples of both hills and plains, and the transgender community across the country.

The government's decision to include representatives from the minority ethnic communities, the Dalit community, and workers' groups—one of whom will be a tea worker—in the committee to monitor human rights violations is also commendable. We just hope that the committee will be empowered enough to do its job.

Since the bill is now with the parliamentary committee on law ministry for scrutiny, we hope that they will critically analyse it before submitting its report. In the meantime, discussions should be held in parliament and among all the stakeholders concerned to address any loopholes in the law. Most importantly, the bill must be passed without unnecessary delay and ensure its effective implementation in the future.