‘Journalist Rozina Islam is the symbol of freedom of speech’
PBC News: Country’s journalist community leaders have demanded unconditional and immediate release of Prothom Alo’s senior reporter Rozina Islam.
They also demanded withdrawal of case against Rozina and punishment of those who were involved in physical harassment of her at the health ministry in Bangladesh Secretariat.
Besides, the journalists’ leaders called for framing a law for protection of journalists.
They raised the demands while addressing a rally organised by the Dhaka Union of Journalists (DUJ) inside the Jatiya Press Club premises on Thursday in protest against the arrest of journalist Rozina Islam.
The journalists’ leaders addressed the rally that continued till 2:15pm starting before 11:00am.
Speaking at the rally, Prime Minister’s former Media Adviser Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury said Rozina Islam is the symbol of exposure of truth, free flow of information and freedom of speech.
“Rozina Islam is also the symbol of objective journalism and free mass media. She went to collect information for people, not for the Ministry of Health. The information she collected belongs to people only. So, the charges of stealing information brought against her are contrary to the Official Secrets Act, 1923 or conflicting with the Right to Access to Information Act, 2009,” Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury, also the Editor of the Daily Observer, said.
Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists (BFUJ) president Mollah Jalal said journalism in Bangladesh is going through a crisis period.
DUJ general secretary Sajjad Alam Khan strongly criticised the formation of an inquiry committee by the Ministry of Health to probe the harassment of Rozina Islam.
“We don’t want any committee headed by the bureaucrats. It is very unfortunate and painful to see that journalists are now facing repression for collecting information. We must be united against these repressions,” he said.
Jatiya Press Club president Farida Yasmin said the harassment and repression Rozina Islam had to go through cannot take place in a civilised nation. “The Ministry of Health can’t confine any journalist in such a manner. We demand an impartial inquiry committee, which will be comprised of the representatives from journalists, not anyone from the Ministry of Health.”
Former BFUJ president Manjurul Ahsan Bulbul criticised publishing of the advertisement sent by the Ministry of Health blaming Rozina Islam.
“It’s unfortunate that the newspaper owners couldn’t control them to publish a single advertisement.”
He also said Rozina Islam is an honest, courageous and hard-working journalist. The case filed against her was related to spying. “Spying and journalism are not the same thing. Besides, the Act, under which the case filed against her, is now obsolete. Majority of journalists think that injustice has been done to Rozina,” he said.
