Dhaka, Jan 23 (V7N) —Journalists, staff members, and leaders of the daily Bhorer Kagoj held a sit-in on Thursday demanding the acceptance of all their demands and the reopening of the closed office to continue publication.
They held the protest in front of the HR building in Kakrail, Dhaka.
At this time, the newspaper's staff expressed their demands, saying they want their rightful dues, adding that the ones who embezzled millions from Bhorer Kagoj and conspired to shut down the publication should be brought under the law.
They raised accusations against several individuals at the newspaper, saying that Editor Shyamal Dutta, News Editor Ikhtiar Uddin, Chief of Accounts AK Sohag, Advertising Manager SA Razzak, and Admin Manager Sujon Nandi Majumder colluded to shut down the main office of Bhorer Kagoj.
The protesters called them allies of the previous government, the Awami League, adding that now that the Awami League is out of power, they are attempting to shut down the newspaper.
At the sit-in, the chief reporter of the newspaper, Khondkar Kawser, moderated speeches by leaders of various journalists' organizations. During the speeches, the leaders demanded that the Bhorer Kagoj office be reopened as soon as possible, and that all dues owed to the journalists and staff be settled.
President of the Dhaka Union of Journalists (DUJ), Shahidul Islam, said: "I want to tell the Bhorer Kagoj authorities, you have committed many injustices. The injustices you have been committing for the past 15 years. We do not want to bring them up again. During the July movement, you tried to label the revolutionaries as terrorists.
"We wanted to forget those words. We wanted you to become an ideal media outlet in solidarity with the new revolutionary government. But instead, you closed the office without settling the journalists' dues. We don't want any media outlet to be shut down. We want you to remove the fascist allies from every media outlet. Instead of doing that, Saber Hossain Chowdhury has shut down the newspaper without paying the dues of nearly 1,000 staff members."
Addressing the newspaper's owners, the DUJ president added: "You should discuss with the journalists of Bhorer Kagoj and reopen the newspaper. Settle their dues. If not, we will take tough actions in the future."
Abu Saleh Akon, president of the Dhaka Reporters Unity, said: "A newspaper office cannot be closed without notice like this. You know that for a long time, a fascist government has been oppressing the media in this country. We have just emerged from that oppression. Now, we have the freedom to work, write, and speak. At this moment, a fascist former owner has closed down his newspaper like this. It is highly reprehensible."
The sit-in was attended by journalists and staff members of Bhorer Kagoj; organizational secretary of the Dhaka Journalists Union (DUJ), Saeed Khan; former vice-president Amirul Islam Kazi; DUJ executive member Abdullah Majumder; the office secretary of the Bangladesh Federal Journalists Union, Abu Bakkar Mia; the literary editor of the newspaper, Saleh Nasir Uddin; joint news editor, Mukul Shahriar; journalist SM Mizan, among others.
On Monday, the owners issued a notice announcing the closure of the newspaper's main office. The notice, signed by the executive editor, said that the authorities of Bhorer Kagoj had decided to close the main office for reasons beyond the owner's control, as per Section 12 of the Bangladesh Labour Act of 2006, effective immediately.
END/MSS/AJ
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