Media absolutely free

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said yesterday that the media had been enjoying absolute freedom in the country, yet a section of the media had resorted to false criticism of the government.
She also came down hard on those in the media and in civil society who were “portraying the country in a bad light.”
“When I read newspapers, I sometimes find false, half-true and fabricated news reports against the government. It seems that they cannot do without writing against the government,” said Hasina at a views exchange meeting with leaders of the Awami League's Kurigram district unit at her Gono Bhaban residence yesterday.
“At times they don't even think that false news may harm the country and its people. But we haven't curbed media freedom even after that.”
Hasina said despite the fact that the country had achieved tremendous progress in many sectors, a section of people kept up the refrain that the country's situation was not good. “But if you talk to rural people, they will give you the real picture.”
“When the Awami League government works for the welfare of the common people, those vested interest groups feel unhappy. They don't feel good when general people are fine.”
Those groups always remained busy finding ways of getting facilities from the government, said Hasina, who is also president of ruling Awami League.
During the BNP-led government's tenure between 2001 and 2006, 14 journalists and many AL activists were killed, and nearly 1,800 journalists and hundreds of AL activists were subjected to torture across the country, said Hasina.
People were even deprived of their right to seek justice at the time. “None could even file cases against BNP men. Those who sought justice were harassed through false cases,” said the prime minister.
Hasina said the country had been torn apart by killings and bomb explosions during the period. “Not a single day passed without an incident of bombing taking place.”
“The present government's critics have no peace of mind” as the country was now free of extremism, terrorism and bomb blasts, said Hasina.
She said the elites whose loyalty had always lain with military dictators could not give anything to the country. She claimed that the Awami League had always been close to the common people.
The prime minister said her government had curbed terrorism in the country, and Bangladesh was now considered “a model of potentialities” in the world. The country had been able to maintain economic stability amid the global financial meltdown.
She also said the Awami League government had attained enormous success in agriculture, education, health, ICT and many other sectors, but its critics refused to acknowledge these developments.
The government has been able to reduce child and maternal mortality rates, ensure food security, establish the rule of law, improve the standard of education and healthcare services, and win the legal battle over the maritime boundary with Myanmar.
She claimed that neither the BNP-led government nor the last caretaker government could add a single megawatt of electricity to the national grid. But her government had been able to raise power production to 5,400MW and would increase it further in the future.
Hasina said exports and remittance earnings had increased since the AL-led government came to power. And foreign currency reserves had risen to more than $10 billion.
She also reaffirmed her commitment to turn Bangladesh into a middle-income country by 2021 when the country celebrates the golden jubilee of its independence.
AL General Secretary Syed Ashraful Islam and party leaders Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim, Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir, Yusuf Hossain Humayun, Abdul Latif Siddiqui, Mahbubul Alam Hanif and Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury were also present at the meeting.