Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said the people are living in a dire condition as the ruling Awami League (AL) grabs the state power by force.
He said the undemocratic rule appears equally bad for the news media, opposition parties including BNP and the whole nation.
Addressing as the chief guest of the Dhaka Union of Journalists (DUJ) faction’s annual general meeting (AGM) at the National Press Club in Dhaka, he said fascism does not allow freethinking and open journalism.
He said, “The judiciary and the administration are entrenched in partisanship. The government has grabbed control over news media–the forth pillar of a democratic state. Most of the journalists are applying self-censorship. Nowadays, journalists feel concerned about future consequences of their reporting. There is no way of taking this as an isolated issue.”
Citing the harassment of a journalist at the AL-hosted press conference in New York, Fakhrul said, “This incident exhibited real character of Awami League. Whenever you say against them, you will be tortured.”
Talking about the election commission, Mirza Fakhrul said, “This commission has turned into an obedient organisation. There is news that a new EC would be formed in February next year. Fifty two intellectuals have said about a law for EC reshuffling. This is good, but who will enact the law? The existing parliament is full of AL lawmakers. Persons who snatched people’s democratic rights will make the law.”
The situation needs to be considered while seeking for the EC law, the BNP leaders said.
Mirza Fakhrul said, “Russia arranged an election recently. Putin has been elected there in regular basis. Awami League too has amended the constitution for staying in power forever in Bangladesh. There is an unlucky thing. Our eminent citizens often talk about various issues. But we do not find them with bold speech over the burning issues.”
In the AGM, National Press Club former president Shawkat Mahmud demanded that journalists, writers and activists accused under the Digital Security Act be released or acquitted. He complained that the government was planning about formulating a data protection act to limit the freedom of expression prior to the next general election
While delivering his speech as the chair, DUJ president Kader Gani Chowdhury strongly condemned the government’s search for the bank details of 11 journalist leaders.
Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami assistant secretary general Abdul Aziz, National Press Club former president Kamal Uddin and Federal Journalist Union former president MA Aziz, among others, also spoke.
 secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said the people are living in a dire condition as the ruling Awami League (AL)){kind=link}