Baliadangi (Thakurgaon) Correspondent:
A road blockade and human chain program was held in Baliadangi, Thakurgaon, demanding the withdrawal of the false extortion case filed against Kalerkanth journalist and cultural activist Harun Aur Rashid and the disclosure of the secret of the staged robbery incident to the public.
The journalist society and cultural activists organized the program at Baliadangi intersection at 11:30 am on Saturday.
The speakers said that Baliadangi Police Station has taken an extortion case against journalist Harun Aur Rashid without investigation. The plaintiffs in the case are the Awami League family members. The journalists warned of a strict action program if the case is not withdrawn quickly.
Thakurgaon Press Club General Secretary Firoz Amin Sarkar said that the attempts to silence the voices of journalists by filing cases against Sagar-Runi, journalist Tuhin, and others have failed in the past. The voices of journalists cannot be silenced in the future either. Journalists from Thakurgaon district will join Baliadangi journalists in all kinds of programs if the case is not withdrawn.
Journalist Badrul Islam Biplob of Maasranga TV said, “We have been hearing that police reforms will be implemented after the uprising. But despite reforms everywhere, no noticeable reforms have been observed in the police. Police harassment against journalists must be stopped.”
Journalist Al Mamun Jiban, a victim of harassment under the Digital Security Act, said that Baliadangi police have filed the most cases against editors and journalists in the district before and after the uprising. If anyone makes a false complaint, the police are desperate to file cases against journalists. This must be stopped, otherwise journalists will refrain from publishing positive news about the police.
Actor Abdur Rouf said, “Journalists and cultural activists are being called robbers. This is shameful for us. If police harassment does not stop, cultural activists will also take to the streets.”
Thakurgaon Press Club General Secretary Firoz Amin Sarkar, NTN Bangla staff reporter, former General Secretary and Maasranga TV district representative Badrul Islam Biplob, Ranishankail Press Club President Ashraful Islam, Baliadangi Press Club President NM Nurul Islam, General Secretary Al Mamun Jibon, Gazi TV journalist Emdadul Haque Bhutto, NTN News district representative MA Samad, Baliadangi senior journalist SM Mashiur Rahman Sarkar, Channel S district representative Joy Mahanta Alok, Swadhin Samaj Kalyan Parishad President Lecturer Mohammad Ullah Raihan Dulu, actor Abdur Rouf, cultural activist Fazlur Rahman, journalists Ilias Ali, Jane Alam, Nur Alam Saddam, Milan Akhter, among others, spoke at the two-hour human chain and road blockade program.
On August 28, the family of the Chhatra League leader filed an extortion complaint against senior journalist Harun Or Rashid, the Baliadangi correspondent of Kalerkantho, at the Baliadangi police station. The police registered a case at night without investigating the complaint. Even though the family was released on bail from the court last Sunday, the family tried to file a case again by staging a robbery.
After protesting against police harassment by reporting on the news last Wednesday (September 3), the journalists went to the police station that night and gave an ultimatum to withdraw the false case within 48 hours and reveal the secret of the robbery to the public. The journalists took to the streets on Saturday because the police did not take action.