Information and Broadcasting Minister Dr.Hasan Mahmud today said the habit of telling ‘no’ by BNP to everything
is tantamount to saying no to democracy.
“BNP is telling ‘no’ continuously to all. No one could give an example of such a participatory process even in many old democratic countries as how the search committee having discussion with political parties and the civil society,” he said.
The minister added: “Initiative has been taken to form the Election Commission in a transparent manner. BNP supported intellectuals and those persons who talked in favour of BNP also went there (search committee). BNP’s habit of telling ‘no’ to everything is tantamount to saying no to democracy.”
Dr.Hasan stated these while addressing a function of cheques distribution among the journalists at an auditorium of Press Institute of Bangladesh (PIB) in the city.
Bangladesh Journalists Welfare Trust organized the function with its managing director Subhash Chanda Badal in the chair.
PIB director general Zafar Wazed, Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists (BFUJ) president Omar Faruque, general secretary Dip Azad, Dhaka Union of Journalists (DUJ) president Quddus Affard and trust member Kashem Humayun, among others, addressed the function.
Dr.Hasan said BNP and Jamaat did politics of arson and patrol bombs attacks which were not held in the contemporary world. But, the anti-people politics of the political party, BNP, is not being exposed in mass media, he added.
He said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina stands beside the journalists of Bangladesh during the COVID-19 situation and there is no such example in neighbouring countries. About Taka 6 crore has been distributed as financial assistance through the trust to the journalists as per the directives of the Premier, said Hasan, also Awami League joint general secretary.
He said journalists irrespective of all opinions and beliefs got assistance. Even those persons who talked in front of Jatiya Press Club and wrote columns at newspapers against the government also got the assistance and it (assistance) will be continued in future also, he added.
The minister said, “We did elections under the party banner. But, we are determined to do work for every person and for every party when we get the responsibility of running the state.”
He said BNP leaders who criticized the vaccination (COVID-19) issue also got the booster doses. He also urged the BNP leaders who didn’t take the booster dose till now to take the dose soon.
Hasan said journalists work like a beacon of a society and they played pivotal role in every movement including the struggle of freedom and to build the country after the independence. But, currently there are many inefficient journalists and fake mass media across the country when the mass media flourished vastly, he added.
For this, he said, real journalists have been being defamed and it is needed to end. “According to the request of the journalists’ leaders, the ministry has decided in principle to make a database of journalists based on a policy. We have requested the press council to do this work. The real journalists will be placed in the database if they make the database based on the policy. And then discipline will be established in this sector,” he added.
Later, the minister joined a webinar organized by Chattogram Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO), a Japanese government-related organization, marking the 50 years anniversary of diplomatic relations between Bangladesh and Japan.
In his speech, Hasan hoped that the friendly relations between the two countries will be strengthened in the upcoming days.
