Jaintapur (Sylhet) Correspondent //

Local journalists held a pen break and protest meeting in protest against the threat to chop off the hand of journalist Nazmul Islam by Barki Sramik President Amir Ali for publishing news of extortion from Sari Balu Mahal in Jaintapur, Sylhet.

At this time, journalists from all levels of print and electronic media in Jaintapur Upazila, as well as Gowainghat Upazila Press Club and local journalists participated in the pen break and protest meeting.

On Tuesday (December 31), at 2 pm, a pen break and protest meeting was organized by journalists from all levels of Jaintapur Upazila at the Freedom Fighters Memorial adjacent to the bus stand.

The meeting was chaired by Faiz Ahmed, a senior journalist working in Jaintapur Upazila, Jaintapur Upazila correspondent of Daily Khabor and former president of Jaintapur Press Club, and moderated by Rezwan Karim Sabbir, general secretary of Jaintapur Online Press Club of Daily Ajker and Daily Sylhet Mirror. The welcome address was delivered by Golam Sarwar Bilal, Jaintapur Upazila correspondent of Daily Jalalabad.

Also speaking at the pen break and protest meeting were Jaintapur Upazila correspondent of Daily Shuvo Pratidin and president of Jaintapur Online Press Club MM Ruhel, former general secretary of Jaintapur Press Club Abul Hossain Mohammad Hanif, representative of Bangla TV Dulal Ahmed Raju, Gowainghat Upazila correspondent of Daily Kazir Bazar and general secretary of Gowainghat Press Club Karim Mahmud Limon, finance secretary of Jaintapur Press Club Mir Shoaib Ahmed, and representative of Daily Ajker Sylhet Imam Uddin.

The speakers said that they strongly condemned the threat of cutting off the hand of journalist Nazmul Islam for publishing news about extortion by holding workers hostage. They expressed anger that the administration has not taken any effective action so far despite a general diary in the incident. They also called for legal action against those involved in extortion and those concerned in extracting the hard-earned sand from the workers.

Before the protest meeting began, all the journalists present tied black cloths over their faces and started the strike by placing their pens on the ground.

Present at the meeting were Vice President of Jaintapur Online Press Club Shoaib Rahman, Jaintapur Upazila Correspondent of Daily Sylhet Bani and English The Daily Morning Sun and Jaintapur Online Press Club Member Md. Abdullah, Jaintapur Upazila Correspondent of Daily Kazir Bazar Newspaper Murad Hasan, Channel S’s Gowainghat and Jaintapur Correspondent Salman Shah, Jaintapur Upazila Correspondent of National Daily Bhorer Kagoj Newspaper Saiful Islam Babu, Staff Reporter of Daily Alokot Sylhet Newspaper Saj Uddin Saju, Asian TV Correspondent Yusufur Rahman, Gowainghat Press Club Co-Editor Minhaj Mirza, Member Saidul Islam, Newspersons Faisal Qadir, Russell Ahmed, Ananda TV Correspondent Mohammad Ibrahim, Zoombangla Correspondent Shoaib Rana, Jaintar Chitra Correspondent Hasan Mohammad Badrul and local journalists.

During the journalists’ pen break, Jaintapur Upazila BNP General Secretary Abdul Hafiz, Upazila BNP Vice President and former UP Chairman Haji Alamgir Hossain, Upazila BNP Former Co-Secretary Masuk Ahmed, Upazila Jubo Dal Joint Convener Nurul Haque and other leaders participated in the meeting expressing sympathy and solidarity with them.

General Secretary Abdul Hafiz condemned the incident of threats to journalists and expressed his hope to stand by them. He said that journalists are the mirror of society. Journalists are working in the upazila to highlight the irregularities, corruption, and mismanagement of the society. At this time, he said that no one has the power to shut the mouths of journalists. Jaintapur Upazila BNP and all levels of people are ready to resist those who want to misuse this power.

He requested all journalists to remove the black cloth from their faces and handed over pens to everyone and called for the break to be lifted.

The meeting president, Faiz Ahmed, took the pen from Abdul Hafiz and demanded a proper trial for the recent incidents. At this time, the program was withdrawn after the Upazila BNP delegation assured of a fair trial and solution.

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