No bar on freedom of expression: Army Headquarters

Bangladesh Army Headquarters have stated that no bar is being imposed on people's freedom of expression or on exposing their opinions independently through news outlets or social media. Army Headquarters have mentioned that the country's people will judge the objectivity of views and thoughts unfolded by citizens via different platforms.

Moreover, Army Headquarters have said that the law and order situation all over Bangladesh is now comparatively much better than earlier two months. Colonel Md. Shafiqul Islam from Directorate, Military Operations in Dhaka Cantonment addressed a press conference on Monday to meet journalists from various media outlets. Colonel Md. Shafiqul Islam also answered questions from media professionals at that time.

Colonel Md. Shafiqul Islam said, "Extortions, mob justice, theft, murders and similar crimes have remarkably gone down in recent months."Colonel Md. Shafiqul Islam illustrated statistical figures on operations by Bangladesh Army from 28 December 2024 to 16 February 2025 during the press conference.

According to Colonel Md. Shafiqul Islam, "There were 250 incidents of extortions which have now declined to 110. Theft reports have decreased from 850 to 650. Murders have plummeted down from around 350 to 120 in light of statistical findings on previous two months and current times."

Colonel Md. Shafiqul Islam informed reporters that crime hotspots have been identified and vigilance has been bolstered and widened. Bangladesh Army has reduced mob violence to a large extent, he told journalists.

Colonel Md. Shafiqul Islam cited that 3,859 wounded demonstrators belonging to the Anti-Discriminatory Students' Movement received medical treatment from Combined Military Hospital (CMH) while 41 protesters are still undergoing healthcare services in CMH.

While answering a question from a journalist, Colonel Md. Shafiqul Islam said "We are not posing any obstructions to people's rights to express their remarks and assessments freely on social media. We would request Bangladesh's people to evaluate what sort of opinions are coming from netizens". He commented that television channels and print media are presenting news items in accordance with their own principles. No dictums or no restrictions are being imposed from Bangladesh Army, Colonel Md. Shafiqul Islam added. He affirmed that Bangladesh Army never indulges anyone to commit offences. Bangladesh Army always works in an absolutely unbiased way standing by the country's people, Md. Shafiqul Islam further said.