B Mirror Desk :It would be nice for us to have an open debate among ourselves on how to further implement the free media commitment that we all are making,” said Nahid Islam, convener of the Jatiya Nagarik Party (NCP), who expressed optimism that the media’s relationship with political parties will be constructive. The Media Reform Commission’s proposals need to be released shortly.
He made these remarks on Sunday, May 4, World Press Freedom Day 2025, during a discussion gathering hosted by the Editors’ Council at the National Press Club’s Abdus Salam Hall.
According to Nahid Islam, we will be able to declare that the media landscape has changed since the July revolt when the framework for such reforms is finalized and put into effect.
The Jatiya Nagarik Party supports free media, he stated. We think that having a free media is a crucial requirement for exercising democracy and ensuring that people may express themselves freely. Therefore, the denial of the right to express thoughts was the first step in our revolution. Concerning the July popular uprising’s goal, I would want to state that journalists will be allowed to serve the public interest while remaining safe and professional in the future, free from societal pressure, partyization, and government meddling.
He said, democratic forces have fought for a long time with the expectations and aspirations of a free media. We have recently seen that Bangladesh has advanced 16 steps in the World Press Freedom Index. Although this is good news for our country, our aspirations and expectations were – the media situation in our country will be better. If we take that index as a benchmark, we are still far below. For the past 16 years, the media, like all other institutions, has been influenced and controlled by partyization and fascism through a fascist regime.
He also said, a clear outline is needed on what the relationship between media and fascism was in the past and how we can get the media out of the fascism that has entered the media. Because we see that if the media does not come out of the relationship between the media and fascism that existed in the past and from the place of ideological dominance, then the free media that we expect in the aftermath of the July Uprising and the place of trust and confidence of the people in the media will not be fully ensured. The issue of good governance of the media should be ensured from within the media. Initiatives should be taken in that regard.
BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, vice-president of the Editors’ Council and editor of the English daily New Age, also attended the discussion, which was moderated by Dewan Hanif Mahmud, general secretary of the Editors’ Council and editor of the Daily Banik Barta, and chaired by Mahfuz Anam, president of the Editors’ Council and editor of the English daily Daily Star. Editor of the Daily Manabzamin Matiur Rahman Chowdhury, editor of Prothom Alo Matiur Rahman, president of Nagorik Oikya, and treasurer of the Editors’ Council Nurul Kabir Among them are poet Hasan Hafiz, editor of Kaler Kantho, editor of Samakal Shahed Muhammad Ali, main coordinator of the Gana Sanghati Andolon Jonayed Saki, and Mahmudur Rahman Manna.
