State Minister for Information and Broadcasting Mohammad Ali Arafat on Wednesday urged the country’s mass media to work with utmost sincerity to safeguard the interest of the country and its people, saying that the government is working to ensure a congenial atmosphere for journalism.
“The government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina always stands by the people working in the media with different types of incentives so they can work professionally with responsibility,” he said.
The state minister made the remarks while addressing the Bangladesh Press Council (BPC) Padak-2023 distribution ceremony at Tathya Bhaban Auditorium in Dhaka’s Circuit House Road, reports BSS.
Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information and Broadcasting Ministry Kazi Keramat Ali, Senior Secretary of the ministry Humayun Kabir Khandaker, and jury board chief and Professor of Dhaka University (DU) Mass Communication and Journalism Department Dr Abul Mansur Ahmed spoke at the function with BPC Chairman Justice Md Nizamul Huq Nasim in the chair.
Arafat reiterated the government’s commitment to fostering professional journalism: “We believe that freedom of the press is part of our Liberation War spirit.”
The protection of democracy, human rights, freedom of expression and freedom of the press is the large part of the dream based on which the country was liberated, he said, adding, “But later, it was snatched from us after August 15 in 1975 following the assassination of the country’s architect and the greatest Bengali of all time Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman”.
Later, the country witnessed that the evil force came to the state power and pushed the country towards darkness by establishing military rule, killing democracy, suppressing mass media, gagging the freedom of expression, destroying human rights and ruining all the spirits of the Liberation War while the reactionary and anti-liberation forces were rehabilitated, the state minister said.
From that reality, he said, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has been trying to bring the country out of the darkness and push it towards light and the spirit of the Liberation War for the last 15 years since 2009.
Noting that the government of Bangabandhu’s daughter, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, welcomes all kinds of constructive criticism from the media, Arafat said, “Today’s award is evidence of that, as one of the awardees got the award for his report criticising the government.”
He termed the media as the eye of the government and said it helps the government make the right decisions.
The state minister urged the media to publish reports based on authentic information: “We want to see the media as a supportive force of the government. I assure you that if you publish any report based on factual and authentic information identifying the government’s mistakes, we will welcome those and recognise them with an award.
“But the problems which are created when anti-Bangladesh conspirators engage in conspiracy riding on the mass media and abusing the press freedom against the country and its interest, and misguide the people by spreading misinformation and disinformation; we do not want to recognise those as criticism and journalism rather we term those as propaganda, bad journalism, misinformation, crime and conspiracy,” Arafat said.
Referring to German broadcaster Deutsche Welle’s (DW) recent documentary on Bangladesh’s human rights issue, he said, “If you watch the documentary attentively, you will see it was not against any individual or the government, but against the country and its important institution—the Bangladesh Army.”
The state minister added that the DW made an ill-motivated, malicious, and misleading documentary to tarnish the reputation of the Bangladesh Army, which has gained fame for its extraordinary role in UN peacekeeping missions.
Making a nexus, he said, a vested quarter is spreading such kind of propaganda to tarnish the image of the Bangladesh Army and the country by using the international media.
Referring to the German government’s stance regarding the Gaza war, Arafat said DW should prove its press freedom and commitment to human rights by airing a documentary unveiling the genocide being carried out by Israeli Defence Forces, going against their government’s stance.
Otherwise, he added that their so-called commitment to human rights and press freedom will be considered fake.
The US had raised a question over freedom of expression in Bangladesh as a Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team entered the BNP office following a bomb blasting there, he said. But their (US) character has been unmasked following the police action against the peaceful demonstration of students and teachers protesting the genocide in Gaza, Arafat said.
SWAT members entered the BNP office following standards of international law as it is specially trained in tackling explosive substances. However, the US used its SWAT team to scatter the peaceful and unarmed agitators, he pointed out.
BPC Secretary Shyamol Chandra Karmakar delivered the welcome address at the event.
Former editor of Begum Patrika Nur Jahan Begum got the lifetime award (Posthumous) while Bhorer Kagoj in the institutional category, Dainik Cox’s Bazar in regional institutional category, Somoy TV Patuakhali district correspondent Shikdar Jabid Hossain in rural journalism, BTV news producer Md Iqbal Hossain in development and Bhorer Kagoj senior reporter Jharna Moni got the award in women journalism category.
