POBNEWS24, Dhaka July 7, 2025 : The Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists (BFUJ) and Dhaka Union of Journalists (DUJ) have condemned and protested against the unwanted interference and threats against the media in Bangladesh.
On Monday, BFUJ acting president Obaidur Rahman Shaheen and secretary general Quader Gani Chowdhury and DUJ president Md. Shahidul Islam and general secretary Khurshid Alam issued this condemnation and protest in a joint statement.
They said, ‘Restoring freedom of speech that was suppressed during Sheikh Hasina’s regime was one of the goals of the July Uprising. Deviating from that spirit, some of the main leaders of the July Uprising are making threats and intimidation against journalists.
It is completely unwelcome and unacceptable to show such threats instead of allowing the media to develop independently. The threat made by one of the top leaders of the NCP in Rajshahi on Sunday is an obstacle to independent journalism.’
In a statement, the journalist leaders said, ‘We can hear the footsteps of fascism in the statement of that NCP leader. It should be remembered that the students did not risk their lives for threats to journalists or mob justice to carry out the July uprising.’
The journalist leaders addressed the threatening NCP leader and said, ‘I would like to remind you that more than 60 journalists were killed during the time of the fallen fascist government. Only during the July revolution, 6 journalists were martyred while performing their duties. Not only that, journalists were regularly active in the street movement in support of the student movement in July-August.’
The statement said that one of the reasons for the bloody mass uprising of the students in July was to ensure freedom of expression and the press.
The threat made by the NCP leader to journalists is against the spirit of the July revolution. We did not expect this from a student leader of the July revolution.
As a traditional platform for protecting the rights of journalists and achieving freedom of expression, we have not accepted such unwanted and unfair interference in the past, and we will not accept it now. If anyone has any objections or complaints about the role of the media, they can resort to the law, courts and the Press Council to redress them. But the tendency to take such laws into their own hands is condemnable.
Journalist leaders called on the concerned quarters to refrain from such activities.
