Prothom Alo will remain firm in independent journalism

1 February, 1962 was a bright day of those times of our youth. The valiant anti-Ayub student movement had begun and I was part of the strike and procession too that day.

Strikes, processions and clashes with police took place on Dhaka University campus that day. The student movement later spilled over to Dhaka and elsewhere for a week. Dhaka University saw clashes between students and police, Section 144 was imposed, residential halls were raided, students were rounded up indiscriminately and finally the university was shut. The slogan of the demonstrators demanded the end of the military rule, they demanded freedom of speech, press freedom, elections and democracy.

The movement that arose that day culminated to a mass-uprising in February 1969 through many ups and downs. The historic mass-uprising toppled the Ayub regime. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and other political prisoners were freed and the military regime was compelled to hold general elections. Even during the military regime there was fearless journalism.

I took charge of weekly Ekota as acting editor in 1970 following the student movement of the sixties. Ekota was the mouthpiece of the Communist Party of East Pakistan which was declared illegal at that time. Despite the military rule in the country, we sought political rights, elections, democracy and press freedom through Ekota. On 25 March 1971, we published a full-page report titled ‘Prepare for all-out struggle’. However, the paper could not be circulated on 26 March as the armed struggle had started.

At that time, we were working day and night to establish a new democratic and progressive Bangladesh after independence. We relaunched weekly Ekota in February 1972.

We hoped Bangladesh would march forward as a democratic and progressive country imbued with the constitution of 1973. Sheikh Mujib initiated the one-party role of BAKSAL (Bangladesh Krishak Sramik Awami League) by declaring emergency in December 1974 and then bringing out a major shift in the state policy in January 1975. All but four newspapers were shut at that time. Our Ekota was also shut down. Within three and half years of independent Bangladesh, newspapers were shut down, in contrast to what we had been demonstrating for since 1962. Freedom of association was stripped and democracy gone. A one-party autocratic rule came into existence.

All political activities were banned following the death of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and members of his family on 15 August 1975 and the subsequent military rule. A culture of fear became pervasive. As the ban on political activities was lifted during the regime of military ruler Ziaur Rahman, Ekota was republished on 2 February 1979, the first Friday of the month. We dived into the call for press freedom and democracy with new zeal. We had to brave many odds to carry out our journalism at that time.

The country’s overall political situation got more complex after the assassination of Ziaur Rahman in 1981. Then came the autocracy of Ershad. Weekly Ekota was shut down at the behest of Ershad on 15 May after the general election in 1986. Around 10 months later, Ekota was published again in March 1987 and played a key role in the formation of the mass-uprising against Ershad.

After the fall of Ershad, BNP came to power through a general election in 1991. In February 1992, we launced Daily Bhorer Kagoj with new enthusiasm. I was its publisher and editor. In a new dawn of hope, we tried to march forward focusing strictly on making Bhorer Kagoj a non-partisan and independent daily newspaper.

I can remember that the BNP government stopped all government advertisements in the Bhorer Kagoj in February 1993 as we were publishing news and criticising undemocratic activities and corruption of the BNP government. A multi-pronged movement to get back government advertisements, we even took to the streets. At that time, cases were filed against our local correspondents and me in many places including Bogura, Sylhet, Chattogram and Dhaka. We had to travel from district to district to secure bail.

Awami League won the elections in 1996 held under the caretaker government and formed the government. We continued independent and objective journalism at Bhorer Kagoj newspaper. But again we were hindered in the work of independent journalism as the newspaper’s publisher was elected member of parliament of the ruling party and then became a deputy minister. He could not withstand the government pressure, and we left Bhorer Kagoj subsequently.

With a goal of independent and non-partisan journalism, we launched Prothom Alo with over a hundred colleagues in November 1998. We strived for independent and unbiased journalism from the onset. While praising the achievements of the government, we tried to point out its failures too. At the same time, we continued to criticize the undemocratic politics of the opposition.

The Awami League government led by Sheikh Hasina too stopped all government advertisements and Prothom Alo’s online edition in 2000. After a caretaker government took over in 2001, the embargo on government advertisements was lifted and the online edition got fresh approval.

Let me remind our readers of an instance. Activists of Joynal Hazari, the then MP of Awami League, launched an attack on UNB’s journalist Tipu Sultan and left him almost dead. Prothom Alo covered the issue strongly in its new reports and opinion columns. We collected funds for Tipu Sultan’s treatment. The journalist had to undergo protracted treatment in Bangkok. He had to go under surgery eight times.

Enraged by the role of Prothom Alo, Awami League MP Joynal Hazari launched diatribes against Prothom Alo and its editor twice on 12 and 26 June 2001 in the parliament in the presence of prime minister.

Prothom Alo remained vocal against all undemocratic and corrupt activities of BNP government between 2001 and  2006. In particular, our readers surely remember that we did many special reports and investigative reports, editorials, opinions, cartoons, etc, about the seizure of 10 truckloads of weapons in Chattogram and the grenade attack on the opposition leader Sheikh Hasina on 21 August.

The government spun a concocted statement accusing a person named Judge Miah as the attacker of the 21 August grenade attack. We also published investigative reports on those concocted statements of Judge Miah and farcical probe. Even during the BNP government, government advertisements were stopped at the beginning. And advertising for Prothom Alo was fixed at 10 column inches daily. Apart from that, the leaders of BNP spread different propaganda against Prothom Alo in various ways.

They did not just stop there. We carried reports and opinions on corruption and misconduct of Jatiya Sangsad chief whip Khondkar Delwar Hossain, lawmaker Nasir Uddin Ahmed (Pintu) and lawmaker and Chittagong Hill Tracts Development Board chariman Abdul Wadud Bhuiyan and others. They filed cases against the editor and publisher of Prothom Alo. A total of 27 cases were filed in Khagrachhari alone. But no cases held water. The court quashed all the cases. There were more such cases in different parts of the country.

Later, during the army-backed caretaker government in 2007 and 2008, Hizb ut Tahrir, with the support of the intelligence agencies, prevented sales of Prothom Alo in various parts of the country including Dhaka. Some of our journalists were arrested, tortured and sued. A group then took various initiatives to shut Prothom Alo and arrest the editor. They ran a lot of propaganda.

Awami League assumed power again in an election overseen by the army-backed caretaker government. After that Prothom Alo held on to its independent and impartial journalism defying different types of pressure, intimidation and attack in over 15 years of Awami League. We faced lawsuits and different types of pressures during that period. The number of cases surpassed over a hundred at a moment. A total of 25 cases are still pending in and outside Dhaka.

IRuling party MPs including Latif Siddiqui, Shajahan Khan and Sheikh Selim harangued against Prothom Alo for around an hour in the parliament on 21 Septenber 2009. They demanded Prothom Alo editor be arrested, brought to the parliament and face trial. Since then pressure on Prothom Alo continued. Not only in Dhaka, our correspondents from different areas faced repression. Cases were filed against Prothom Alo reporters and the editor in every nook and cranny of the country.

The government in August 2015, through verbal orders, forced around 50 local and multinational companies to stop publishing their ads in Prothom Alo. The government ads were stopped beforehand. The goal was to financially cripple Prothom Alo.

On 27 May 2015, Prothom Alo published a report on corruption in purchasing 15 power tillers with the government's money in Jhenaidah. On 2 July, Prothom Alo published another story on the issue titled ‘Prothom Alo’s news not fake, 5 are yet to purchase power tillers’. As we ran a report on corruption of an organisation of the agriculture ministry, the agriculture minister took to the parliament floor on three days (16, 17 June and 5 July) and criticized our report on ‘public interest’. She had two press briefings against us in the parliament. For covering that issue, the reporter and editor faced 12 lawsuits. All these cases were quashed by the courts.

In the latest, Prothom Alo was subjected to unprecedented propaganda over a petty issue, over a report covered by our Savar correspondent in March 2023. Government-backed writers, artists, professors and vice chancellors were deployed in a planned way against Prothom Alo.

Propaganda was carried out in and outside the parliament. Cancellation of declaration, arrest and trial of Prothom Alo editor was demanded.
Over the incident, two cases were filed against Prothom Alo journalist Shamsuzzaman and one against the editor. Shamsuzzaman had to go to jail. Earlier, Prothom Alo’s special correspondent Rozina Islam was attacked, harassed and arrested.

Prothom Alo faced every sort of obstacle. An embargo was imposed against Prothom Alo in the prime minister’s press briefings and any other programme. Almost all government and semi-government offices stopped subscribing to Prothom Alo. 

The government’s ire for Prothom Alo was so much so that the prime minister herself told the parliament that, ‘Prothom Alo is enemy of Awami League, Prothom Alo is enemy of democracy, Prothom Alo is enemy of the people of the country.’ These allegations against Prothom Alo had no justification. Prothom Alo’s journalism and all activities were based on Bangladesh’s independence and liberation war and revolved around democracy and people’s welfare. This is true for all news, all publicity, all programmes and all publications of Prothom Alo. This stance makes Prothom Alo the most popular and biggest news media of the country. We have been following these tenets continuously and devotedly for 26 long years. And we get recognition through active participation and love of the readers. Prothom Alo’s journalists receive local awards every year in recognition of their works. They also receive international recognition.

I also want to remind you that Prothom Alo abides by all laws of the land. Our income and expenditure is open to the government. In recognition, Prothom Alo as an organisation and the editor as an individual have been recognized as best taxpayers for eight consecutive years.

The oppressive fascist regime has been ousted through the mass-uprising of July-August. An interim government led by Dr Muhammad Yunus has been at the helm for around three months. This government has started its journey with a dilapidated administration, judiciary and law enforcement agencies. People’s lives have become harder due to various crises in the education, health, and economy sectors. There is no quick-fix of these crises, but people want some visible initiatives and efforts by the government. The people want tangible words and deeds from the interim government. People want to be optimistic.

To succeed in these important areas of the state, an open democratic environment and freedom of opinion have to be ensured. More open dialogues are needed about the important issues relating to the state. For that, freedom of expression and freedom of speech is required more than any time in the past. We believe the chief advisor of the interim government and the other advisors are aware of this. They have already raised their voice. Yet we have witnessed some individuals or groups launching false and ill-motivated propaganda against journalism and newspapers.

They are calling for action against newspapers. These all are major stumbling blocks against the country’s independent media and democracy.

We spoke about these issues against the previous autocratic government, in order to establish a society with press freedom democracy and free from corruption. We were engaged in the movements. 

At this time when there have been efforts to address the wounds of society as well as the state, such activities are not warranted. This in no way can facilitate anything good. Such more lead to losses for society and the state. 

With more than 50 years of experience in journalism after independence, we can say that journalism was never uninterrupted and free during any government in the country. We could not work independently and impartially. We have been subjected to repression during all the governments. We have been framed in lawsuits and subjected to arrest warrants. We had to travel district to district to appear before the courts. 

There are still 25 cases against Prothom Alo and its editor. Once upon a time, the number of cases was more than 100. However, we were attacked the most during the previous autocratic regime, while journalism of Prothom Alo was hindered. 

We do not want to experience such a situation again. We want change, and for that we need reforms in the system of governance. For that, we have to continue to practice journalism with courage, with an independent and nonpartisan stand. 

In addition to the cyber security act, the autocratic government led by Sheikh Hasina took initiative to legislate four to five more laws. Journalists, editors and publishers opined that each of those laws would set barriers to independent and impartial journalism. They all demanded repeal of the cyber security act, but nothing worked at all. Sheikh Hasina's autocratic government remained steadfast in its position.

Thus, freedom of press and freedom of expression were severely undermined during the autocratic regime, while democracy was in exile. 

What was going on with journalism, newspapers or media during the previous autocratic regime was not acceptable in any way. Such a system cannot continue anymore. That is why the student strike and procession of 1 February 1962 comes to the mind repeatedly. On the day, our slogans were – we want the right to speak, freedom of press, democracy, and elections. 

Today after 62 years, we have to raise the same demand – we want the right to speak, we want the freedom of journalists and newspapers, we want elections, we want democracy.

 * Matiur Rahman: Prothom Alo editor and publisher