Debapriya slams NHRC as ‘toothless and spineless’

Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya, Distinguished Fellow at the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) and convener of the Citizens’ Platform for SDGs, has branded the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) “toothless and spineless”, alleging that people “without backbones” are routinely appointed to lead it. Speaking at a citizen dialogue in Gulshan, Dhaka, on Saturday (27 September), Dr Bhattacharya warned that the public did not want yet another weak rights body stripped of authority and effectiveness. The discussion, titled Draft Human Rights Commission Act 2025, was organised by the Citizens’ Platform. “We have been gifted a toothless and spineless Human Rights Commission,” he said in his opening remarks. “It has no skills, no effectiveness. A good person without a backbone can never straighten...