e-News® | The NEWS Company…DHAKA, August 27, 2014 – Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today ruled out the suspicion of a section of people that the newly announced national broadcasting policy would curtail the freedom of press saying her government firmly believes in complete freedom of media.
“We would not have given permission to so many televisions and newspapers in the private sector if we didn’t believe in the freedom of press and speech,” she said today.
She was giving cheques of financial allowance/donation among the sick, insolvent and accidentally injured journalists and family members of the deceased media persons at a function at her Tejgaon office here. The Prime Minister said a commission to be constituted by a search committee will look into the matter of the execution of the broadcasting policy. The policy has been formulated fulfilling a long run demand of the journalist community, which was liked by everybody, but a few who never supported our activities. Sheikh Hasina said no media across the world run without any policy or guidelines. The broadcasting policy has been designed following long discussion incorporating opinions of cross section of people to ensure accountability of media along with safeguarding its freedom, she said.
Pointing out the formulation of the Right to Information Act (R2I) by her government, the Prime Minister said the Act has ensured peoples’ access to information and accountability of the government as well. The donation/allowance was given from a specially constituted first ever government fund introduced by the Awami League government in 2013 to support the journalists considering their financial woes. So far the government has extended financial support to 437 journalists from the fund while today the Prime Minister handed over cheques to 181 journalists as per recommendation of a committee of the information ministry this year. Information Minister Hasanul Haq Inu presided over the function organized by the Ministry of Information.
Chairman of Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Ministry AKM Rahmatullah, advisor to the Prime Minister on media Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury, Information Secretary Mortuza Ahmed, president of Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists (BFUJ) Monjurul Ahsan Bulbul and secretary general Abdul Jalil Bhuiyan, president of Dhaka Union of Journalists Altab Mahmud and general secretary Quddus Afrad spoke on the occasion.
Chairman of Bangladesh Press Council Justice Momtaj Uddin, Chairman of Press Institute of Bangladesh Habibur Rahman Milon, Managing Director and Chief Editor of Bangladesh Sangband Sangstha (BSS) Abul Kalam Azad, editors of different dailies and electronic media, senior journalists attended the function. Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister Abdus Sobhan Sikder and Press Secretary AKM Shameem Chowdhury were also present.
The Prime Minister said journalists always face difficulties during their duties. Some of them die, some sustain injuries and some fall sick seriously. Out of that consideration, she said the government has undertaken the benevolent step to support them during their financial hardship. Sheikh Hasina said the government has already constituted a trust fund to give the system of giving financial support to journalists an institutional shape, from where journalists would get support every year.
The government would allocate seed money for the trust fund very shortly, she said urging the journalist leaders to mobilize more money for the fund from other private sources. Pointing out her government’s steps taken for welfare of the journalists, the Prime Minister said,”I will not live forever. But, I wanted to create a permanent measure to help the journalists.”
Sheikh Hasina said her government has announced the newspaper as an industry for which newspaper owners are getting various benefits and privileges from the government. So, they must provide the working journalists with their facilities, she said. Urging journalists to be objective in criticizing the government, Sheikh Hasina said, ” I will request the journalists not to try to cut the branch on which you are sitting.”
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said media is the mirror of a society. But a few media is spreading misleading news and information. She said electronic media has flourished during the period of her government. Amid the period of great prosperity of media, she said, the government has opened up the satellite television for the private sector with a view to creating job opportunity and make way for new technologies.
Sheikh Hasina said her government is gradually implementing all its electoral promises. Country’s economy is now standing on sound footing while people are living in peace and comfort, she said. Even in the month of Ramadan, she said, people faced no trouble as the prices of essentials were within the buying capacity of the common people. The Prime Minister said, BNP is out to foil the peaceful situation and they are suffering from inner burning out of their wrong decision of boycotting the last general election. Now they are trying to create trouble in public life, she said.
Pointing out at Tarique Rahman’s recent speech, the Prime Minister said, the BNP leader now adopted a policy of sharing her speech with her son. “Now, Tarique speaks several times more than what his mother tells,” she said.
The Prime Minister said BNP always tried to destabilize the social peace. Begum Zia and Tarique Rahmman had hands behind the BDR mutiny in 2009 and sent the country to a complete ruin in the name of movement before January 5, 2014 general election, she said. In this regard, the Prime Minister urged the journalists to find out the reason why Begum Zia had left her cantonment house for unknown place hours before the mutiny and why Tarique made phone calls 40 to 45 times to different persons in Bangladesh from London after the mutiny?
Sheikh Hasina said, heinous grenade attack on August 21, 2004 took place when Khaleda Zia was in power. They had set a drama to misguide people about the attack and protected the killers with full state support. On the other hand, the Prime Minister said her government brought the culprits of BDR mutiny to justice and handed down punishment to the killers of army officers.
Though it was a hard task, but we didn’t compromise anywhere while delivering justice to the families of the victims and rehabilitate the families of the slain army officers, she said. Sheikh Hasina said those persons who caused incident like August 21 grenade attack , can never believe in democracy.
Highlighting the success of Bangladesh in different social and economic sectors, the Prime Minister said Bangladesh has become a role model of development and is progressing fast. But BNP leader cannot accept all these development of the country, she said.
As the journalist leaders called for government’s intervention for execution of the eighth wage board award in the newspaper industry, the Prime Minister said, Information Minister would look into the way of execution of the award.
Later, the Prime Minister handed over cheques of allowance/donation to the journalists.
BSS
