Govt didn't suspend Deepto TV's news activities: Adviser Mahfuj

The interim government did not suspend Deepto TV's news activities, Information and Broadcasting Adviser Mahfuj Alam said today (29 April).

"This is an internal decision of the Deepto TV authorities," he said while talking to reporters at the Secretariat this evening.

Earlier today, Deepto TV ran a news scroll on their channel announcing that they would temporarily suspend telecasting news. 

It came a day after a reporter from the channel sparked outrage when he asked Cultural Adviser Mustafa Sarwar Farooqi how he had come up with the number of 1,400 July martyrs. 

A letter circulated earlier in the day saying the reporter in question, Mizanur Rahman, was terminated by Deepto TV. This could not be independently verified by The Business Standard.

Speaking to The Business Standard, Deepto TV CEO Tusnuva Ahmed Tina said, "The suspension is part of an internal reform. We did not shut it down."

Meanwhile, Press Minister at the Bangladesh Embassy in US Golam Mortoza said the government has suffered a great loss as Deepto TV suspended its news segment and after ATN Bangla took action against a journalist.

He added that the line of questioning by the journalist in question, however, exposed his "sycophancy". 

Mortaza, in a Facebook status, also said, "The government did not suffer any loss when questioned about the number of martyrs; rather the sycophancy of the journalist was exposed… The two channels cunningly put the government in an embarrassing situation.

"A journalist cannot become a sycophant if the institution does not want him to."