Geneva, August 9: Press Emblem Campaign (PEC), the global media safety and rights body, expresses shock and serious concern over the fact that a number of working journalists were killed in the recent past across Bangladesh, as the south Asian nation witnessed a massive anti-government protests that snatched away the lives of over 300 Bangla nationals including a large number of students and young people.
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The political unrest for many weeks even compelled Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to resign and flee from Dhaka to take shelter in neighbouring India, from where she may leave to a third country which is yet to be disclosed. Currently an interim government headed by Nobel laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus has taken the charge with an aim to conduct a fresh national election within three months and hand over the power to the winning party leaders.
The nationwide anti-quota movement in government jobs had taken the life of Hasan Mehedi, who worked for Bangla digital media outlet Dhaka Times on 18 July 2024, as he was covering the clashes erupted between the police forces and agitating students at Jatrabari area of Dhaka. He becomes the first journalist to be killed reportedly this year in Bangladesh and 72nd journo-victim across the world since 1 January. The same day, another journalist named Shakil Hossain, who worked for Daily Bhorer Awaj newspaper, was killed while reporting the turmoil in Gazipur locality.
On 19 July, Abu Taher Md Turab, who was associated with Daily Naya Diganta newspaper, received bullet injuries as the police fired on a procession in Sylhet and later succumbed to injuries. Photo journalist named Tahir Zaman Priyo was also shot dead in Dhaka on the same day. Later on 4 August, Pradip Kumar Bhowmik, who worked for Daily Khoborpatra was killed in Sirajganj by a mob as he was covering the protests that turned violent.
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“PEC demands fair probes into every incident that led to the killing of all the Bangladeshi journalists within a few weeks. We come to know that over a hundred media workers sustained injuries while reporting from the ground as the police personnel were joined by goons of the ruling party to attack them. The journalists in Bangladesh continue working in an adverse situation and the authorities must take precautions to safeguard the media persons on duty. The new regime in Dhaka should also compensate the bereaved families,” said PEC president Blaise Lempen.
PEC’s south Asia representative Nava Thakuria informed that the internet connection remains restricted in Bangladesh that has affected gathering adequate information about any other journo-victims in that country. Its neighbor India witnessed the killing of two journalists namely Shivshankar Jha and Ashutosh Shrivastava. On the other hand, Pakistan lost eight journalists namely Hassan Zaib, Khalil Afridi Jibran, Nasrullah Gadani, Kamran Dawar, Mehar Ashfaq Siyal, Maulana Mohammad Siddique Mengal, Jam Saghir Ahmad Lar and Tahira Nosheen Rana to assailants this year.
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(Nava Thakuria is a senior Indian journalist who contributes to various media outlets including print and digital platforms of India and across the world.)