DHAKA: Bangladesh condemned as unfounded on Tuesday a report by the Paris-based media watchdog Reporters without Borders which branded the country a “kind of hell” for journalists and the home minister a press freedom “predator”. In a report to mark world press freedom day, the group said on average there was a physical attack on a journalist every other day during 2004 and accused the Dhaka government of showing no interest in tackling violence against the press.
It described Bangladesh as “a kind of hell for the independent press”. The group said Bangladesh, for the third year running, had the largest number of journalists physically attacked or threatened with death.
According to its figures four reporters were killed and 10 were arrested in 2004. But the Bangladesh government rejected the organisation’s findings Tuesday.
“It is baseless and has no relevance to the present reality,” said principal information officer Abu Jafar Mohammed Iqbal.
“The deaths of journalists killed in Bangladesh are being fully investigated and in some cases people have been charged and brought before the courts; it not true to say that these incidents are not properly examined,” he added.
The media rights group also produced a list of 34 organisations and individuals including Bangladesh home minister Lutfozzaman Babar. It labelled the 34 as press freedom “predators”.
Babar said he had not seen the report but would be issuing a response soon. Sections of the media have also cast doubt on recent findings by Reporters without Borders in Bangladesh.
Some editors say it is well known in Bangladesh that numerous “journalists”, especially those working outside the capital, are journalists in name only. They earn almost nothing from journalism but try to use the media to exert influence and become involved in smuggling syndicates which are behind many of the attacks.
Naimul Islam Khan, a former newspaper editor, accused the government of failing to properly investigate violence against journalists but added that it was important to pinpoint the exact reasons for attacks.
“If you take the number (of journalists attacked or killed) it is true that Bangladesh has a high number, but if you take the reasons, there are questions,” Khan said.
“In private many say that some of these journalists were killed for reasons other than their reporting,” he added.
Shaukat Mahmud, general secretary of Bangadesh’s National Press Club, said Reporters without Borders’ accusations were unjust.
“The report is unfair, some of those who are killed in the country areas are not killed because of their journalistic work. Some are killed by private mafias because of arguments over business and infighting between journalists,” he said.
The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists also singled out Bangladesh for criticism Tuesday.
With nine journalists killed since 2000, according to its own figures, it said the country was the fourth most dangerous for reporters after the Philippines, Iraq and Colombia.
RSF’s list of so-called press freedom predators also includes Bangladesh’s Maoist Purbobanglar party.
Others listed include Zimbabwe president Robert Mugabe, North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il and Libya’s leader Moamer Qadhafi.—AFP
