Dhaka //

AK Azad, president of the newspaper owners’ organization NOAB, said that the interim government knows that its term is until February 12, so where is their fear? Why have they paralyzed the judiciary?

AK Azad said this at a policy dialogue titled ‘Media Self-Regulation in Bangladesh’ at the BRAC Center in the capital on Wednesday morning. The dialogue was organized by the Media Resources Development Initiative (MRDI) with media-related stakeholders.

In the dialogue, AK Azad said that the current interim government has no political agenda. Why are they not providing justice and why are they sending innocent people to jail?

Criticizing the arrests under the Anti-Terrorism Act, the NOAB president said, ‘The police are demanding huge amounts after taking some innocent people from their homes. Those who can pay are being released from the police station, and those who cannot pay are being sent to jail under the Anti-Terrorism Act.’

In the dialogue, AK Azad also spoke about the state oppression of journalists in the past. He said that the character of all governments is the same. Those who were in government in the past and those who are in government now have the same character. There is no guarantee that those who will come in the future will be better.

AK Azad also commented that it is not possible to do ‘ethical journalism’ if the state system cannot be fixed and criticized.

The Daily Star editor Mahfuz Anam, former head of the Media Reforms Commission Kamal Ahmed, executive editor of Prothom Alo Sajjad Sharif, among others, were also present as guests in the dialogue.

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