Dhaka – Two of Bangladesh’s leading press organizations have expressed deep concern in a joint statement over the arson and vandalism attacks on the headquarters of two major newspapers in Dhaka.
The Editors’ Council and the Newspaper Owners’ Association of Bangladesh (NOAB), in their statement issued Friday, condemned the assaults on the offices of Prothom Alo and The Daily Star.
The attacks were carried out by an angry mob Thursday night in Dhaka’s Karwan Bazar area, following the death of Inqilab Mancha leader Sharif Osman Hadi. Hadi died in a Singapore hospital a week after being shot by helmeted assailants on a motorcycle in Dhaka on December 12.
The organizations called on the government to immediately arrest those involved in the attacks on the media outlets, as well as those responsible for the harassment of Editors’ Council President Nurul Kabir, also the editor of New Age, in the early hours of Friday.
“The attacks exposed the state’s irresponsibility as well as a serious deterioration in the law-and-order situation,” read the statement, signed by Kabir and NOAB President AK Azad.
They said that these were not isolated incidents, arguing the latest violence was a dangerous example of the interim government’s persistent failure to contain mob violence since taking office.
The organizations said the attacks targeted not only the media but also society and democratic values. “It is an attack on Bangladesh itself,” the statement added.
The overnight assaults caused significant damage to the newspapers’ infrastructure and property, while also heightening risks to the lives of their news workers.
Both bodies also condemned a separate attack on the cultural organization Chhayanaut.
The statement noted that Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus had assured Prothom Alo Editor Matiur Rahman and The Daily Star Editor Mahfuz Anam by phone of their security and his support.
“But the interim government must take responsibility for its failure to prevent these attacks and maintain law and order,” the joint statement asserted.
The attacks demonstrated a failure of the law enforcement agencies, they said calling for the immediate arrest and exemplary punishment of all perpetrators, “not any more statements.”
The Editors’ Council and NOAB called upon all professional bodies, civil society organizations, and political parties to express solidarity with their demands.
