BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Saturday alleged that journalists and the media in Bangladesh are no longer independent as the government has been formulating different laws and policies one after another to control them.

“Though one of the main objectives of the Liberation War was to establish the freedom of the press, now the journalists and the press in Bangladesh are not independent…freedom of the press is an integral part of democracy. But it's affected repeatedly by the Awami League,” he said.

Speaking at the annual council of a faction Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists (BFUJ) at the Jatiya Press Club, the BNP leader also said Awami league and democracy cannot go together. “Whenever Awami League came to power, it attacked the media.”

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He alleged that the ruling party has been regulating the media for over a decade to hush up the truth and its misdeeds and corruption. “Once the Awami League leader who couldn’t afford good quality sandals, r now owns multi-storey buildings and new cars. This is the reality.”

 “In fact, the Awami League has left nothing to destroy in this country. They’ve ruined this state.  So, they’ll be charged with treason for it.  They’ve betrayed people. They’ve been doing it since 1971. They must face trial,” Fakhrul warned. 

He said the government is now formulating more policies with an objective so that the journalists cannot expose the truth.  "Every law and policy for the media is being formulated with a motive to control the press freedom.”

Fakhrul also bemoaned that most of the owners of the media belong to Awami League which is also an obstacle to press freedom.

He said there is no alternative to ousting the current government to restore democracy and press freedom. “We need to forge unity. I urge the leaders of the journalists to create unity among themselves and the professionals. We’re also trying to forge a unity of people and political parties to establish a pro-people government and revive people’s lost rights by removing the current despotic regime.”