(RSF/IFEX) – A journalist survived a murder attempt on 1 March 2006 when his university bedroom was torched in Savarnear, central Bangladesh. Two days later, 11 journalists were beaten at a press conference by members of the ruling party’s youth movement, in Sharishabari in the northwest. RSF urged the authorities, particularly the Interior Ministry, to […]
(RSF/IFEX) – A journalist survived a murder attempt on 1 March 2006 when his university bedroom was torched in Savarnear, central Bangladesh. Two days later, 11 journalists were beaten at a press conference by members of the ruling party’s youth movement, in Sharishabari in the northwest.
RSF urged the authorities, particularly the Interior Ministry, to act with the same determination against political militants who harass journalists as they have done recently against Islamist terrorism.
“The decisive success of the security forces in the battle against Islamist terror, with the recent arrests of Siddiqul Islam and Sheikh Abdur Rahman, is excellent news for Bangladesh and for journalists in particular,” RSF stated. “At least 60 of them received death threats in 2005 from radical Islamist groups.”
“But the violence experienced by the press on a daily basis, particularly in the districts, should not be forgotten,” RSF added.
On the night of 1 March, a group of unidentified people set fire to the bedroom of Nur Siddique, student and correspondent for the daily “Prothom Alo”, at the Jahangirnagar University near Dhaka. They locked the door to prevent him escaping, but he was woken by the smoke and neighbours managed to rescue him.
“They attacked me because they are unhappy about my work,” he told RSF. His view was supported by the chairman of the Jahangirnagar University Journalists’ Association (JUJA), who said “I don’t think this attack was motivated by personal conflict.”
The journalist and his colleagues suspect some supporters of the ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) within the university to have been behind the arson attack. Most of Siddique’s articles written last month were about the student branch of the BNP. Two other correspondents at the university were attacked by people with links to the ruling party during 2005. Siddique laid a complaint with the university’s vice-chancellor, which was sent to the police.
On 3 March, members of the BNP youth wing, Jubodal, launched an attack on the Sharishabari press club, beating militants of the opposition Awami League and journalists. At least 25 people, including 11 reporters, were beaten with blunt objects. The assailants also vandalised furniture and four motorbikes.
Minister and BNP deputy for the constituency Muhammad Anowarul Kabir Talukder condemned the violence, following protests from journalists, but some witnesses said his younger brother, Faridul Kabir Talukder Shamim, took part in the attack.
