Letters: Muzzled voices

With reference to Maher Sattar's report, "Bangladeshi editor faces 79 cases, 175 years in jail after unusual confession" (March 29), Mahfuz Anam is facing a plethora of defamation and sedition cases in different courts of Bangladesh. His crime - expressing regret on a TV talk show on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of his English language daily newspaper, The Daily Star, for publishing uncorroborated allegations provided to it by military intelligence officials against the then prime minister of Bangladesh, who was arrested based on the allegations.

The confession is unwarranted. If you want to save yourself from trouble it is better not to speak. We are experiencing that it in India, too. There are many laws that can go against you if you speak. It seems freedom of expression is not for ordinary people, and certainly not for journalists. "The pen is mightier than the sword" no longer holds true.

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Deendayal M Lulla, Mumbai

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