BFUJ faction opposes demand to ban Al Jazeera

A day after one faction of Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists (BFUJ) demanded a ban on the transmission of Qatar-based Al Jazeera television channel in Bangladesh, another faction of the organisation issued a statement expressing their shock at the demand.

The statement said leaders of BFUJ and Dhaka Union of Journalists (DUJ) could not believe that such a demand could come from an organisation involved with the welfare of journalism.

The statement said that the demand to ban Al Jazeera was vehemently opposed by the President of BFUJ M Abdullah and Secretary General Nurul Amin Rokon, as well as the chairperson of DUJ Kader Gani Chowdhury and its General Secretary Md Shahidul Islam.

"Our main mandate is to protect free speech, and independent media," said the statement. Demanding that a media organisation be banned because of what they published is an oppressive stance to take, it said.

In the statement, the faction of journalists also stated that if a foreign media outlet is publishing false news, the truth should be published by domestic journalists. "If there is any controversial element in the documentary by Al Jazeera, then the journalists should investigate and present the truth," it stated.