Journos denounce attacks
Journalists and their professional bodies have denounced the Friday attacks on journalists by religious fanatics during demonstrations by Jamaat-Shibir men and their sympathisers in the capital and elsewhere.
At least 14 journalists received injuries while the Islamic fanatics ransacked a number of media establishments, including Chittagong Press Club, during processions after the Juma prayers.
Journalist leaders yesterday blamed the activists of Jamaat-e-Islami and Islami Chhatra Shibir for the attacks and demanded immediate punishment of the perpetrators.
Newsmen in many districts including Chittagong, Khulna, Sylhet, Rangpur, Munshiganj and Jhenidah held rallies and brought out processions in protest at the attacks on the on-duty journalists.
Shortly after the attacks, leaders of a faction of Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists (BFUJ) and Dhaka Union of Journalists on Friday afternoon brought out a procession and demanded punishment to the attackers.
Meanwhile, during a rally in front of the Jatiya Press Club, another faction of the two unions yesterday announced a grand rally there on February 28.
The BFUJ faction led by Ruhul Amin Gazi and Shawkat Mahmud, however, blamed the police for firing shots on the journalists. It declared the home minister and the information minister persona non grata at the press club.
BFUJ President Ruhul Amin Gazi condemned the ultimatum issued by the Shahbagh protesters to arrest Amar Desh acting editor Mahmudur Rahman within 24 hours.
He also criticised the protesters, saying they are working for the government, and threatened to counter their programmes if they do not stop.
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