(Media Watch/IFEX) – On 10 November 2005, the Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists (BFUJ) accused the government of orchestrating the cancellation of the venue reservation for the national convention of journalists scheduled for 11 November, in the name of “security reasons.” This reflects the government’s “undemocratic and unfriendly behaviour towards journalists,” BFUJ leaders said at […]
(Media Watch/IFEX) – On 10 November 2005, the Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists (BFUJ) accused the government of orchestrating the cancellation of the venue reservation for the national convention of journalists scheduled for 11 November, in the name of “security reasons.”
This reflects the government’s “undemocratic and unfriendly behaviour towards journalists,” BFUJ leaders said at a news conference.
While strongly condemning and protesting the government’s “fascist attitude,” the BFUJ said it planned to stage a sit-in demonstration on 11 November at 11 a.m. (local time) at the National Press Club and across the country.
The national convention will still be held in the capital and the rescheduled time and venue will be announced shortly, the BFUJ said.
The national convention against repression of journalists, terrorism and militancy, organised by the BFUJ, was scheduled to be held at the auditorium of the Diploma Engineers’ Institute.
Leader of the opposition and Awami League president Sheikh Hasina was to be the chief guest at the inaugural session of the convention. However, the National Security Intelligence (NSI) asked the venue authorities to cancel the reservation of the auditorium from 10 to 14 November, and advised them not to rent out the auditorium during this period, in the name of security reasons associated with the SAARC Summit.
“In an 18 October letter, we booked the venue, and accordingly they had permitted us to hold the conference on 11 November,” said BFUJ president Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury. “But all on a sudden, in the name of security reasons, they cancelled the venue just 30 hours ahead of the convention without giving us any notice, though it was not under the purview of security areas for the SAARC Summit.”
Terming this a “continuous part of government repression of journalists,” Chowdhury added, “By doing this, the government not only showed an indifferent attitude to the journalists, but also to the leaders of opposition political parties, as they were invited there.”
“As the convention was against repression and killing of journalists, and families of slain journalists were supposed to be there, they proved that they were the patrons of the killings,” he alleged.
Expressing his deep resentment over the matter, BFUJ Secretary General Monjurul Ahsan Bubul said, “Journalists are not miscreants . . . They do not create any security hazards or anarchy . . . So there was no reason to bar the journalists from holding the convention. It is also a kind of repression.”
The president of the Dhaka Union of Journalists (DUJ), Altaf Mahmud, and general secretary Shah Alamgir also addressed the press, among others.
