Senior journalists from print and electronic media on Thursday suggested the ruling Awami League form a national committee to observe the anniversary of the death of the country’s founding president Sheikh Mujibur Rahman to make the programmes on the occasion more participatory.
While exchanging views with the Awami League general secretary and minister for public administration Syed Ashraful Islam at the Awami League chief’s Dhanmondi office to mark the 40th death anniversary of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, they also suggested the party play a ‘responsible’ role in observing the anniversary.
Syed Ashraful Islam, who invited the journalists, urged the media professionals to produce innovative programmes on the founding president of the country, on their own accord, to mark the national month of mourning.
‘We do not want to impose any programme or function upon you… we want you to produce creative and independent programmes on Bangabandhu from your own angle,’ he said.
The Awami League general secretary said that they did not think of any particular mass media as their adversary. ‘We hope all of you will extend cooperation to us because Bangabandhu was the founder of the state,’ he added.
He said the party had chalked out a 40-day programme in observance of the anniversary of the martyrdom, and prime minister Sheikh Hasina has given her approval to the programme.
The daily Samakal editor, Golam Sarwar, said the ‘misconceptions’ surrounding Bangabandhu built over the years have started to disappear. ‘Bangabandhu should not be confined as a resource of a particular party as he is the treasure of the whole nation,’ he added.
Daily Manab Zamin editor Motiur Rahman Chowdhury said it was a problem to make Bangabandhu the sole property of Awami League and he should rather be the property of the whole nation.
Naimul Islam Khan suggested the Awami League form a national committee comprising of all political parties and groups in observance of the anniversary of the death of the country’s founding president.
Daily Kalerkantha editor Imdadul Huq Milon suggested programmes on Sheikh Mujib not be confined to only a particular month.
Editor of daily Bangladesh Protidin Nayeem Nizam urged the Awami League leaders to keep vigil that their party activists not extract tolls for observing the death anniversary.
Among others, Manjurul Ahsan Bulbul, president of a faction Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists, Abed Khan, editor of daily Inquilab, Bahauddin, publisher of daily Samakal, AK Azad Chowdhury, publisher of Manabkantha, Zakaria Chowdhury and Altaf Mahmud, president of a faction of Dhaka Union of Journalists, attended the programme.
Among the Awami League leaders, joint general secretaries Mahbub-ul-Alam Hanif and Jahangir Kabir Nanak, organising secretaries Ahmed Hossain, BM Mozammel Huq and AFM Bahauddin Nasim, were present.
Source: New Age
