The sequence of events last Thursday will remain etched as a dark chapter in the history of Bangladesh’s media. The country’s leading dailies, Prothom Alo and The Daily Star, became targets of deliberate and organised terrorist attacks.
At Prothom Alo’s office in Karwan Bazar, Dhaka, assailants carried out vandalism and looting before eventually setting the premises on fire. At the same time, the office of the country’s leading English-language daily, The Daily Star, located on Kazi Nazrul Islam Avenue, was also vandalised and looted, and then burned down.
On the same night, Prothom Alo offices in Kushtia, Khulna and Sylhet were vandalised, while attempts were made to attack its offices in Chattogram, Bogura and Barishal. Not only media outlets, but cultural organisations such as Chhayanaut and Udichi also came under terrorist attack.
The assault on the Prothom Alo office created a severe security crisis and posed serious threats to life. Journalists were forced to flee the premises to save themselves. As a result of the situation, Prothom Alo could not publish its print edition on Friday, and its online operations had to be suspended for 17 hours. The same happened in the case of The Daily Star.
These terrorist attacks did not only cause extensive damage to the infrastructure and assets of Prothom Alo and The Daily Star; the lives of journalists and staff were also put at risk.
Fire service vehicles were obstructed from reaching the scene to extinguish the blaze. Nurul Kabir, president of the Editors’ Council and editor of New Age, was also harassed and assaulted. Sadly, the law enforcement agencies failed to take any effective measures to prevent the attacks on Prothom Alo and The Daily Star.
Admittedly, some individuals from the interim government did make efforts, but those efforts proved unsuccessful. We believe that such violence was able to occur due to the inaction of the interim government and law enforcement agencies.
In the aftermath of the July mass uprising, the government has failed to take effective action to curb mob violence, which has continued unabated. In some cases, it is only natural to feel that such violence has even been tacitly encouraged by sections of the authorities.
The role of the government and law enforcement during the attacks on Prothom Alo and The Daily Star can be viewed in the same light. As recently as November last year, there was an attempt to attack the offices of Prothom Alo and The Daily Star, but that attempt was thwarted due to the firm action of law enforcement agencies. Our question is: why was such a role not taken this time?
In a statement, the interim government expressed solidarity with journalists of Prothom Alo and The Daily Star, saying, “We are deeply sorry for the terror and violence you have been subjected to.” Merely offering words and statements about standing by the media and protecting press freedom is not enough; such commitments must be reflected in action. The reality is that despite open incitement to violence by various groups against Prothom Alo and The Daily Star in recent times, no preventive measures were taken by the authorities.
Now, the government’s responsibility is to conduct a proper and credible investigation to identify and arrest those who incited, planned and carried out the terrorist attacks on the offices of Prothom Alo and The Daily Star, and bring them to justice. We believe it is not at all difficult to identify those who incited the violence and those who took part in vandalism, looting and arson. Numerous videos and photographs circulating in the media and on social media clearly show those involved. There is also ample evidence of the activities and statements of the instigators. We do not want to see any negligence in this regard.