Holy Siam Srabon, Gouripur (Mymensingh)

In protest against the attack on journalist Manjurul Islam who entered the Shambhuganj Press Club after he complained of maltreatment while receiving treatment for his father, and the arrest of Daily Jugantor’s Patiya correspondent Abeduzzaman Amir, and the attacks, torture, lawsuits and harassment against journalists across the country, the Bangladesh Mofusal Journalists Forum (BMSF) organized a human chain and protest rally at the Krishnachuda square of the municipal city on Saturday (March 22/2025) under the initiative of the Gouripur Upazila branch of Mymensingh. He congratulated the reform commission’s proposals, including the Journalist Protection Act. At the press conference, demands were made for the speedy implementation of the reform program. They demanded the immediate release of all journalists arrested in false and harassing cases and exemplary punishment for those involved in attacks and torture. In addition, Jamuna Television’s Comilla bureau chief Rafiqul Islam and camera person Jihadul Islam, who were attacked while gathering news at Comilla Hospital, and Channel 24’s staff reporter Zahidur Rahman and camera person Belayet Hossain working in Comilla, Daily Jugantor newspaper’s Kaliganj correspondent Abdul Gaffar protested the attack, and Md. Shamim Hossain, Upazila correspondent of Daily Kalbela newspaper in Pansha, Rajbari, and Jago News and Khaborer Kagoj’s Noakhali correspondent Iqbal Hossain demanded the withdrawal of the case filed against Majnu. The protest rally was presided over by BMSF Upazila Branch Vice President Md. Raish Uddin. Joint General Secretary Holly Siam Shraban moderated the rally. Former Vice President of Gouripur Press Club Ali Haider Robin, Md. Humayun Kabir, General Secretary of Gouripur Journalists Unity Forum HT Tofazzal Hossain, Bangladesh Mofusal Journalists Forum (BMSF) Vice President Abdul Qadir, Selim Al Raj (Editor), Joint General Secretary Mostafizur Rahman Burhan, Joint Organizing Secretary Abdur Rouf Dudu, Finance Secretary Shamim Alvi, Executive Member Shyamal Ghosh, Mahfuzur Rahman, Mahfuzur Rahman Moni, Shamim Anwar, among others, spoke. Journalist leaders also said that journalists are becoming targets again and again. Every day, journalists are being subjected to torture, attacks and harassment in some places in the country. Immediately implement the 14-point law, including the enactment of legislation to realize and protect the rights of journalists. To quickly resolve the trial of journalist murders, establish a ‘Journalistic Torture Prevention Tribunal’ and complete the trial. At the beginning of the protest rally, journalists who died in the anti-discrimination student movement, including journalists Hasan Mehedi, Shakil Hossain, Abu Taher Md. Turab, Jamir Hasan Priyo, Pradeep Kumar Bhowmik, and the deceased journalist Golam Mostafa Sarwar Sagar and his wife Meherun Runi, as well as journalists who died in the movement for the liberation of democracy and while doing journalism, were remembered. At the beginning of the meeting, a minute of silence was observed in memory of the journalists martyred in the 1971 Great Liberation War and the 24th July Revolution, and prayers were offered for the forgiveness of their departed souls. In addition, the protest rally demanded exemplary justice for the murders of all journalists, including Swapan Bhadra of Mymensingh, ATM Turab of Sylhet, Deepta TV official Tanjin Jahan Islam, Ashiqul Islam Ashiq of Brahmanbaria, Abdul Hakim Shimul of Sirajganj, Mashiur Rahman Uts of Rangpur, Shahzada Mia Azad, Suborna Nodi of Pabna, Ihsan Ibne Reza Fagun of Jamalpur, and Burhan Uddin Muzakkir of Noakhali.