RSF seeks strong action to stop attacks on journalists

 
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has called upon the interim government in Bangladesh to take strong actions immediately to stop attacks on journalists. At the same time the Paris-headquartered organization has expressed worries that assaults on media professionals in Bangladesh are mounting.

RSF uploaded a report on their website titled "Bangladesh: Violent Attacks on Journalists Are Surging: The Government Must Take Action" on 14 February 2025. According to the RSF report, attacks on media workers have increased on an alarming scale since the beginning of this year's February. RSF has blamed police personnel as well as political activists for assailing journalists in various parts of Bangladesh. In some places newsrooms of mass media were targeted, RSF has stated.

RSF has appealed to the interim government to fortify journalists' safety and to execute stern measures against the miscreants who have beaten up and humiliated journalists across Bangladesh in recent months.

The RSF report makes vivid descriptions of certain occurrences where journalists were subjected to physical violence like an attack on a newspaper office in Chittagong on 12 February and stabbing and hammering another journalist at Shariatpur on 3 February 2025.

Moreover, RSF has narrated the attack launched by Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) activists and supporters for a crackdown on Javed Akhter on 5 February 2025 on the Supreme Court premises. Javed Akhter works for private satellite television channel ATN News. According to RSF, several media workers came under attack on 6 February 2025 while Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's residence at Dhanmondi 32 in Dhaka city was being demolished.

However, the Chief Adviser's Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam has declined the complaints illustrated by RSF. Shafiqul Alam has told media outlets that the law and order forces trampled the rights of journalists during the immediate past regime. Five journalists were killed during the July-August uprising in 2024, Shafiqul Alam further said. Shafiqul Alam asserted that the interim government will carry out uncompromising actions against anyone attempting to jeopardize journalists.