Expressing disappointment at the recent statement of the United States (US) Ambassador to Bangladesh Peter Haas, journalist leaders today said that his comments about country’s independent media are tantamount to ‘unnecessary intervention’.
They said Bangladesh needs friends rather than masters and Bangladesh will not grovel to any foreign masters as it is humiliating for all.
‘Justice for Journalists’ organized the discussion at the Jatiya Press Club with its senior vice-president Obaidul Haque Khan in the chair.
Editor of ‘The Daily Observer’ as well as DBC News Television (TV) Chairman Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury attended it as the chief guest. He said that the US Ambassador’s statement is tantamount to interference in Bangladesh’s independent media.
Bangladesh’s successful Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the worthy daughter of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, is showing courage against the US visa policy, he added.
“As long as she shows this bravery, we are with her, we stand by her” he added. He also said that the election of Bangladesh will be held in line with the country’s constitution.
Unwanted intervention of any foreign state will not be tolerated, he said, adding that the US opposed the War of Liberation of Bangladesh and the Americans have been conspiring against Bangladesh since the birth of Bangladesh.
Currently, America has engaged in a deep conspiracy with anti-liberation forces in the name of visa policy and imposition of sanction, he added.
Internationally renowned journalist Monjurul Ahsan Bulbul, Former Secretary General of Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists (BFUJ) Abdul Jalil Bhuiyan, former President of Dhaka Union of Journalists (DUJ) Quddus Afrad, DUJ acting President Manik Lal Ghosh and DUJ Joint General Secretary Khairul Alam, among others, spoke on the occasion.
“Though the United States is a country of free media, the US journalists are also being tortured there,” Bulbul said.
US Ambassador Peter Haas’ statement contradicts his country’s policy of freedom of press, he said, adding that Peter Haas’s statement has indirectly put pressure on the media.
Pointing to the US ambassador Peter Haas, he said: “Your statement is a violation of the principle of freedom press of the United States.”
