Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD) activists have allegedly harassed six journalists at Dhaka University (DU) in two separate incidents.
Three members of the DU Journalists’ Association (DUJA) were harassed while covering a tense situation at Bijoy Ekattor Hall on Wednesday evening over wall writing.
At that time, JCD activist Navid Anjum Nivan obstructed Prime Bangladesh’s DU correspondent Iftekhar Sohan Sifat from filming the episode.
Sifat said despite identifying himself as a journalist, Nivan said, “Just because you are a journalist does not mean you can record videos here.”
When two other DUJA members – Asaduzzaman Khan, correspondent of Daily Manab Zamin, and Harun Islam, correspondent of Naya Diganta – protested the incident, they were also harassed. The situation escalated at one point, but senior JCD leaders present intervened and brought it under control.
The incident reportedly began following an argument between JCD activists over wall writing in front of the hall parliament room.
In a separate incident at Dr Muhammad Shahidullah Hall around 1:00am on Thursday, three more journalists were harassed allegedly by the JCD men.
They encountered the situation while gathering information amid tensions between JCD and Islami Chhatra Shibir over wall writing at the hall.
Eyewitnesses said when three journalists entered a room in the hall just before the meeting began in the presence of the house tutor, they were asked to leave. At that time, several JCD activists approached them aggressively and issued threats.
DU correspondent of the Daily Observer, one of the victims, said, “Even after we identified ourselves, we were told to leave terming us outsiders. Then several JCD people rushed towards us.”
He further alleged that though the house tutor was present during the incident, no effective steps were taken to ensure the journalists’ safety.
Following the first incident, JCD’s DU unit President Ganesh Chandra Roy Sahas, Office Secretary Mollik Wasi Uddin Tami, and other leaders visited the DUJA office to settle the matter. They expressed regret to the journalists and assured that such incidents would not occur in the future.
However, the back-to-back harassment of six journalists has raised concerns about the safety of journalists on campus. Members of the journalists’ association have demanded a proper investigation and action against those responsible.