Editors Guild, DU teachers' assoc, cultural orgs slam Prothom Alo

The Editors Guild Bangladesh, the Dhaka University Teachers' Association, and some cultural organisations on Friday condemned the publishing of a report by the Bangla daily Prothom Alo on Independence Day.

The Editors Guild slammed Prothom Alo, saying the controversial report published by the daily on the Independence Day was "akin to defaming the glorious independence of the country and was a part of the continuous effort to serve an agenda in the name of journalism".

Publishing fabricated reports with ill intents is bad journalism, said the organisation in a press release issued yesterday. 

No one is above the law, it said, adding, "However, we call for taking opinion from the Press Council before anyone files a case after being aggrieved at any news published in a mainstream media."

The Dhaka University Teachers' Association termed the controversial report run by Prothom Alo as a conspiratorial activity against the state and asked for legal action against everyone involved.

Meanwhile, leaders of the Bangabandhu Sangskritik Jote and Bangladesh Shadhinata Parishad in a protest meeting on the same day said none would be spared if they take a position against the independence of the country, reports BSS.

Speaking on the same matter, Awami League Joint General Secretary Mahbubul Alam Hanif yesterday said if anyone hits the country's independence, it will be the government's responsibility to take proper measures to this end.

"A quote of someone was printed in a newspaper disrespecting the Independence Day, although he did not make the statement. The quote was taken by giving him money, which was a criminal offence and was a conspiracy against the state and the government," he told a function at Kushtia Sadar upazila auditorium. The function was arranged to distribute tablet computers as gifts of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, BSS reports.

In a press release signed by its President Prof Zeenat Huda and General Secretary Prof Nizamul Haque Bhuiya on Friday afternoon, the Dhaka University Teachers' Association urged the government to take proper legal action against the daily and everyone involved in the publication of the report.

However, Prothom Alo's name was not mentioned in the press release. It said the protest was against conspiratorial action against the state in the name of publishing news in a national daily.

"At the moment when the news of Bangladesh's economic turnaround is being circulated in the international media after facing the crises of the Coronavirus and the Ukraine war, the attempt to invalidate the state in the name of opposition to the government in a national daily of the country cannot be accepted in any way," reads the press release.

The association urged everyone not to be confused by such news.

Without mentioning the name of Prothom Alo, the press release said, "This newspaper was previously involved in the depoliticisation of the country by siding with the military dictatorship in 2007."

On the other hand, noted singer and Vice President of Bangabandhu Sangskritik Jote Rafiqul Alam, while addressing a human chain and protest rally in front of the Jatiya Press Club in Dhaka, said, "If anyone attacks the spirit of the independence, we will not stay home."

The protest rally was jointly organised by Bangladesh Shadhinata Parishad and Bangabandhu Sangskritik Jote a few days after the publication of a "fabricated" news report in Prothom Alo "criticising" the independence, reports BSS.

The cultural leaders also urged the government to take necessary action against the editor of the newspaper for publishing such fabricated news.

Alam said, "You do politics...but do not insult the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, and our independence."

He called upon the journalists not to serve the heinous purpose of the conspirators and advised them to uphold professionalism in presenting news for the welfare of the country.