BFUJ secretary general and member secretary of Bangladesh Sammilito Peshajibi Parishad Kader Gani Chowdhury said, “Every day two suns rise: one is the morning sun and the other is the news. We see in the light of the sun and the media shows or tells us about the world."
He said, “A journalist's job is to portray the true picture of society. That is why the media is called the mirror of society. Journalists are called its watchdogs of. The image of society is reflected in this mirror. A journalist has to be vocal at all times against injustice, irregularities, oppression, exploitation and deprivation of rights. They have to work fearlessly and relentlessly without paying attention to any threat or warning. They have to witness the picture of the prevailing social system and fulfill the responsibility of portraying the problems of the people. Their days are spent amidst many obstacles and dangers. However, they have to move forward bravely, ignoring the unwarranted threat of the powerful ones.”
He said this at a discussion meeting and iftar mahfil organized by the Journalists Union Gazipur at the District Council auditorium on Thursday evening.
The discussion meeting held under the chairmanship of Journalists Union Gazipur president Delwar Hossain was addressed by BFUJ acting president Obaidur Rahman Shahin, president of the Gazipur District Branch of Bangladesh Sammilito Peshajibi Parishad Professor Nazrul Islam, president of the Nationalist Lawyers Forum Advocate Shahiduzzaman, president of the Gazipur District BNP Shawkat Hossain Sarkar, Amir of Jamaat-e-Islami professor Jamal Uddin, Gazipur police superintendent Dr. Chowdhury Jabed Saber, and BFUJ leader Abu Hanif. The program was moderated by Journalists Union Gazipur general secretary Mohammad Hedayet Ullah.
Kader Gani Chowdhury also said that journalists must be brave. But without the support of the state, brave journalism and investigative journalism are going to disappear.
He said, “Journalists are killed, harassed, and intimidated even for silly causes. Journalists are constantly being suppressed and harassed to silence their voices and disrupt their work. Police harassment, threats from political leaders, oppression by corrupt bureaucrats, attacks by influential businessmen— all these are what journalists have to endure and move forward. There are oppressive laws on top of that. When journalists resort to self-censorship to avoid various types of harassment, the media is no longer independent. In most cases, journalists resort to self-censorship under pressure from influential syndicates. Many times, they avoid the issues of those who have more contact with high-level officials in the office for fear of losing their jobs. In this way, honest journalism is dying.”
He further said that journalists who have been harassed, especially in cases filed under the recently abolished Section 57 of the anti-freedom law called the Digital Security Act, think repeatedly about avoiding their own danger when preparing reports on complex issues at various times after the case was filed. As a result, many times they remain silent despite knowing a lot of information as when they’re in danger, there is not much support from the office or leaders.
"Not to mention another issue: the issue of 'free media' in Bangladesh does not carry any meaning, because the reality is that journalists here are self-censored. Those journalists who want to do journalism professionally defying of this situation are subjected to various harassments. The process of controlling them prevents them from being brave. There is another side to the coin. If you expect something in return for journalism, you cannot do proper journalism. When those involved in journalism expect something, fall into various calculations, then they will not be able to do free journalism. This trend increased during the previous government."
The secretary general of BFUJ said, “The conscience of journalists was bought by giving them plots, flat, money and various privileges. As a result, those journalists left real journalism and rushed towards power-centric journalism. They became the owners of hundreds of crores of taka through working as agents of powerful ones. We see that the news of transactions worth thousands of crores of taka in the accounts of some journalists has surprised the nation. Some journalists have abandoned proper journalism and become party slaves. As a result, journalism has suffered a great loss.”
The journalists’ leader said a journalist should not serve any party, or anyone's interests, and should be above party opinion to present accurate and impartial news. This is the job of a real journalist.
Bd-pratidin English/Lutful Hoque
