Twenty-four hours after badmouthing and threatening journalists, the social welfare minister has apologised to them.
In a statement, Syed Mohsin Ali said his remarks were not meant for ‘all members of the press’ and it was addressed to several local journalists of Sylhet.
The statement, signed by the social welfare ministry spokesperson Md Maidul Islam, was sent to the media on Sunday.
The minister said he saw electronic and print media covered his remarks made at a programme on Saturday ‘which have hurt the journalists’.
“I did not mean all journalists. I believe journalism is a noble profession.”
Ali claimed some reporters sitting in the front rows during Saturday’s programme were joking about the prime minister and the finance minister.
“I became kind of angry after hearing them and made those remarks about the local reporters.”
“I feel very sad that those remarks only have been hugely covered by different electronic and print media.”
The minister at a programme in Sylhet had said that the National Broadcast Policy was made to remove the ‘shortcomings’ of the media.
“Be careful, you won’t be able to sleep with your wives at home,” Ali had said venting his anger at journalists.
Ali in the statement on Sunday said, “My remarks were mainly addressed to some local reporters who ran reports distorting my speeches for the past few days.”
“But I feel bad that my remarks have hurt all the journalists in the country. I sincerely apologise if my unintentional remarks have hurt the journalists’ feelings.”
Saying journalism was a noble profession, he added, “I always respected this profession, still do, and will continue to do so in future.”
He hoped the ‘misunderstandings’ will be resolved following his apology.
Prior to the Cabinet’s approval of the policy, the minister, on July 22, had threatened to rein in press freedom, saying, “A stringent law is being drafted for the media so that they will not enjoy any kind of freedom.”
On Saturday, Ali said that he would have done more on the issue, if he were present at the Cabinet meeting, which cleared the policy.
“Be careful from now on. Do not write whatever you feel like,” warned the minister, who was much criticised several months earlier when the media ran a picture of him smoking in public at a function meant for school children, for which he had to apologise in public.
Earlier on Sunday, several journalists’ bodies strongly protested and demanded an apology from Syed Mohsin Ali.
A joint statement was issued in this regard by the Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalist (BFUJ), Dhaka Union of Journalists, and leaders of journalist bodies in Chittagong, Khulna, Rajshahi, Bogra, Dinajpur, Jessore, Narayanganj, Mymensingh and Cox’s Bazar.
Source: bdnews24