Was Bangladeshi photojournalist Shahidul Alam arrested for criticizing the Sheikh Hasina’s government, or ‘spreading disinformation’? In the recently telecast episode of Head to Head, Al Jazeera English’s journalist Mehdi Hasan challenges Gowher Rizvi, an International Affairs adviser to the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, on the state of the country’s democracy and whether it is heading towards authoritarianism.

At the programme Gowher Rizvi said Shahidul Alam was not arrested for appearing on Al Jazeera.

Here is the video:

In recent elections Bangladesh’s ruling party, the Awami League, reasserted its power following a landslide general election victory. The opposition rejected the results, amid violence which saw 17 killed and allegations of vote-rigging and intimidation, the aljazeera.com reported.

On Head to Head Gowher Rizvi, close ally of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and advisor on international affairs, was challenged on Sheikh Hasina’s government’s record in office and whether it is increasingly trying to silence its critics. He was also asked about the ongoing Rohingya crisis, where over 1 million refugees have fled Myanmar and are living in camps in Bangladesh.

The discussion was joined by a panel of three experts: Saida Muna Tasneem, Bangladesh's High Commissioner to the UK and Ireland; Abbas Faiz, South Asia analyst at Essex University, previously worked for Amnesty International for more than 30 years and Tasneem Khalil, Swedish Bangladeshi journalist, author of Jallad: Death Squads and State Terror in South Asia.