The Editors’ Council has expressed deep concern and strong condemnation over recent incidents of attacks, threats, harassment, and obstruction faced by journalists while performing their professional duties in various parts of the country.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, signed by the council’s President Nurul Kabir and General Secretary Dewan Hanif Mahmud, the media body highlighted the latest incident at Rajshahi University on 4 October as particularly alarming.
Media reports indicated that at least 10 people, including four journalists, were injured in the assault while gathering information and delivering news in the public interest.
The council stressed that journalists do not take sides and that differences of opinion or disagreement over news content offer no justification for violence, threats, or interference in professional work.
It added that an attack on journalists is not merely an assault on individual professionals, but a direct strike against independent journalism, freedom of expression, and the public’s right to know.
While welcoming the initiation of a case and investigation into the Rajshahi University incident, the Editors’ Council insisted that the probe must be impartial, credible, and evidence-based. It demanded that those involved be brought to justice under the law regardless of their political or organisational affiliations.
Outlining a five-point demand, the Editors’ Council called for:
- A swift and impartial investigation into all recent attacks, threats, and harassment directed at journalists.
- Exemplary legal action against perpetrators regardless of their identity or political ties.
- The assurance of a safe environment for journalists to perform their duties at political programmes, universities, courts, administrative offices, and other public gatherings.
- An immediate end to obstruction, intimidation, and harassment during the execution of professional responsibilities.
- Explicit commitments from all political parties, their associate organisations, and all relevant quarters to safeguard journalists and support independent journalism.
The council reiterated that journalist safety is not a special privilege, but an essential condition for a free, democratic, and accountable society, noting that independent journalism cannot function in an atmosphere dominated by fear, threats, and violence.
It urged the government, law enforcement agencies, political parties, educational institutions, and all stakeholders to take prompt, visible, and lawful measures in every instance of violence against media personnel, as well as effective steps to prevent future occurrences.
