Robi served legal notice by National Poet’s family
Khilkhil Kazi, granddaughter of Kazi Nazrul Islam, has served Robi Axiata Limited with a legal notice for defaming the national poet Kazi Nazrul Islam by using Rabindranath Tagore's photo instead of his in a social media post dedicated to Nazrul on his birth anniversary.
Supreme Court lawyer M Imtiaz Farooq, on behalf of Khilkhil Kazi, sent the legal notice to Robi Axiata Limited, on Sunday.
The notice stated that by making such an offensive post on a social media platform like Facebook, Robi has violated multiple acts, including the National Broadcasting Policy, the National Online Media Policy 2017, and Bangladesh Telecommunications Regulation Act 2001.
The notice demanded Robi to publicly admit its wrongful conduct, negligence, and failure to uphold the dignity of the national poet in all major national newspapers as well as television channels and social media. According to the notice, Robi is required to pay exemplary damages, which will be used to fund research on the national poet. This would be administered through a trust under the supervision of the national poet's family.
In addition, Khilkhil asked Robi to present the due royalties for copyright infringement. "We have taken appropriate action in response to Robi's inappropriate conduct, insulting our National Poet. The organisation has to answer for their actions, as no one is above the law," Khilkhil Kazi told The Daily Star today.
Following the immediate backlash over the post on May 25, Robi Axiata Limited has published an official apology on their Facebook page, saying that the post was made by their affiliated agency.
When contacted, Ashraful Islam, the Media Relations Manager of Robi, stated that a formal statement from the organisation will be made later.
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