|
|
 |
 |
 |
| Friday, 16 July 2004 |
 |
|
 |
Features | |
| News Business Features Editorial Security Politics World Letters Sports Obituaries
|
by Anis Ahmed DHAKA (Reuters) - Journalism is becoming an increasingly dangerous profession in Bangladesh. Over the past four years, 13 newsmen have been killed in the country's crime-ridden southwest, assassinated by crime gangs some police believe are linked to political groups. Dozens have been harassed. In the latest attack, newspaper editor Humayun Kabir Balu was murdered in late June in the southern city of Khulna. Balu was killed in a bomb attack by a group of unidentified men outside his office in the city, 350 km (220 miles) from Dhaka. His son, a journalism student, and another man were wounded in the attack. Six months previously another senior Khulna journalist, Manik Saha, was killed in a bomb blast. "Journalists become the targets because they write against lawlessness and crime, especially in the southwest while police seem to be helpless," Hasan Shahriar, president of the Commonwealth Journalists Association, told Reuters. Police say they have had little success in capturing the killers of the 13 newsmen. Privately, they blame the murders and subsequent protection of the killers on rival political groups. The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists said in a recent report: "Bangladesh is one of the most violent countries in Asia for journalists". Harassed Bangladeshi journalists face harassment for reporting on issues that expose corruption or other misdeeds, said another senior newsmen, who asked not to be named. "Intolerance (by law-enforcement authorities) grows when government officials and political leaders react against newspapers and journalists if any report goes against them," he said. Law Minister Moudud Ahmed said journalists often did what he called courageous crime reporting. "Those affected by these reports sometimes hire goons to retaliate (against the reporters)," he told Reuters. Opposition leader Sheikh Hasina said last week that eight newsmen had been killed since the present government took office in October 2001, while 800 had been attacked by pro-government activists and 250 threatened for their work. That said, police and reporters recalled that five journalists had died during the last year of Hasina's term as prime minister, from 1996 to 2001. Police said Hasina's figures were highly exaggerated. The law minister said the government was trying to ensure safe working conditions for journalists. "I don't understand why she (Hasina) should hammer so hard on the issue when her party had stolen media freedom during its rule, when journalists frequently fell victim to gangster attacks," Moudud said. "It was our party (Bangladesh Nationalist Party) that restored the freedom and made life easier for journalists," he said. Following Balu's death, Hasina, who heads the Awami League, called for an end to what she called "state-sponsored mayhem of the fearless mediamen". Her party's main aim is to oust Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia, but it has so far failed to shake the government. Each leader accuses the other of orchestrating political violence. The government said Khaleda had offered journalists maximum freedom to highlight all issues and events of national importance, but asked them not to seek to malign the state or authorities. Symbolising growing anxiety over the killings, about 150 journalists broke their pens in a street rally last month in Khulna to protest Balu's murder. Shahriar called for better security for journalists and for the government to uphold freedom of expression. Police said they had identified a group and detained suspects in Balu's killing. "We are expecting a breakthrough (in the case) soon," said Sajjad Ali, acting commissioner of Khulna Metropolitan Police. Several militant groups operate in Khulna and neighbouring districts. Police say they are remnants of leftist parties, but most of their cadres have switched to crime, including kidnap for ransom and smuggling. "A special force, Rapid Action Battalion, will be deployed in Khulna to crush the killers," the State Minister for Home Affairs, M. Lutfuzzaman Baber, told reporters last week. More security Information Minister M. Shamsul Islam said journalists' security would be beefed up. He said his ministry would also take steps to stop harassment of newsmen in the country. Rights groups said at least 40 journalists had been harassed, beaten or tortured by crime gangs, political party supporters or local authorities across the country in the past six years. They said that at least 10 journalists, including newspaper editors, had been arrested and later released in the past two years. In most cases, the newsmen were accused of committing various crimes and then forced to clear their names through the courts, a lengthy procedure in Bangladesh where the judiciary operates at a glacial pace and is often accused of being corrupt. |
|
News | Business | Features
| Editorial | Security
Produced by Lake House |
