The attackers did not just want to set the office on fire, they intended to kill the journalists, said The Daily Star Editor and Publisher Mahfuz Anam on Monday.
He said, “When the building was set on fire, journalists were working inside. None of the attackers told the journalists to get out. They set the building on fire with them inside. That means they did not just want to set the building on fire; they wanted to murder.”
He said this while recalling the brutality of the attack, looting, and arson at The Daily Star building. He was addressing a joint protest meeting organised by the Editors’ Council and the Newspaper Owners’ Association of Bangladesh (NOAB) at a hotel in the capital on Monday.
Alleging that fire service vehicles were not allowed to extinguish the fire and rescue the employees on the day of the incident, he said, “What does this mean? They did not just want to set the office on fire; they wanted to kill The Daily Star employees.”
Mahfuz Anam said, “It is not enough for us to just show reactions now; it is not enough to just stand by each other. We have to respond. We have entered an era of killing. The issue of freedom of expression is far gone; now the issue of the right to life has come up.”
At that time, he also called upon everyone to stand by them.
