CHOUGACHHA, Bangladesh — Journalists in Jashore’s Chougachha upazila marked World Press Freedom Day on Sunday with a discussion calling for stronger legal protections and an end to attacks on the press.
The Chougachha Press Club organized the event on Sunday afternoon at the press club building in town.
Principal Abu Zafar, the club’s president, chaired the discussion. It was moderated by Babul Akhter, the club’s joint general secretary.
Speakers included former Chougachha municipality panel mayor Master Kamal Ahmed, the club’s senior vice president Rahidul Islam Khan, general secretary Azizur Rahman, joint general secretary M.A. Rahim, poet and journalist Abu Zafar, lecturer Azizur Rahman, Shyamal Datta and M.A. Mannan.
Also present were journalists Asaduzzaman, Raihan Hossain, Abu Hanif, Kalimullah Siddique, Fakhrul Islam, Azam Ashraful and other local dignitaries.
Speakers called for an end to attacks on journalists, the release of reporters jailed without trial and guarantees of professional safety.
No effective law to protect journalists has yet been implemented, the speakers said. In a media landscape crowded with yellow journalism and unethical practices, genuine reporters are facing attacks and harassment, they added.
The speakers urged the government to take effective measures to raise the standard of journalism and demanded legislation and a clear policy to protect genuine reporters.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report