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Speakers at a discussion in Dhaka on Friday said that a strong and responsible state and society could not be built by suppressing writers.

‘The history of taking away writer’s freedom is the history of conflict between power structures and dissent. To get out of this situation, the writers should not stop, they must continue to fight,’ said poet and essayist Chanchal Ashraf as solo discussant at the programme titled ‘History of taking away writer’s freedom’.

He also mentioned that a strong and responsible state and society could not be created by suppressing the writers.

Moderated by writer and journalist Soroishwarja Muhommod, Sangskriti Bangla held the programme at the Sangskriti Bikash Kendra, said a press release.

Speaking on the history of taking away writer’s freedom, Chanchal Ashraf highlighted the situation of the freedom of writers from the fifth century BC to the current situation in Bangladesh.

In the current context of Bangladesh, he pointed out, ‘The way the freedom of writers is being taken away does not bode well for the formation of a balanced society and state.’

Poet-essayist and translator Razu Alauddin and researcher and Jahangirnagar University professor Masood Imran Mannu also discussed at the programme.

Mentioning writers as fighters, Razu Alauddin said that writers had to go through the struggle in all ages and have to go in future.

‘It is not only through direct suppression and oppression that writers’ freedom is taken away, but the way our newspapers suggest that writers’ writings be cut through self-imposed processes is also a major form of deprivation of writers’ freedom,’ noted Razu Alauddin, adding, ‘Most writers and artistes are victims of this process.’

He also said that even because of the existing system, the writers are often forced to censor their views on their own.

Masood Imran Mannu said that to understand the issue of taking away the freedom of writers, one must understand the society as well as keep abreast of the current world order.

‘The era we now live in is post-truth. Here, fake news spreads very quickly in many ways and we make decisions based on that news,’ he said, mentioning, ‘Those decisions are much manufactured.’

Masood Imran also stressed that the very structure within which the state exists tended to suppress dissent and writers. ‘Which is why, the struggle for writers’ freedom is an unending issue.’