Women journalists on Sunday demanded boycotting news relating to organisations like the Hifazat-e Islam to protest against the recent assault of their colleagues at a rally organised by the Chittagong-based outfit.
Calls were made to members of the media from a Women Journalists’ Centre rally held in front of the National Press Club. The rally was organised to protest against the assault on ETV journalist Nadia Sharmin.
Hifazat activists assaulted media-persons, including the ETV journalist, during their Saturday rally. Several other women faced verbal attacks in the area for their gender.
A faction of the Federal Journalists Union led by Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury expressed their solidarity with the programme and called for a rally on Apr 9 protesting against the attacks.
Iqbal Sobhan said the incidents suggested that an attempt was on to push Bangladeshi women backwards like the Taliban did in Afghanistan. “Bangladeshi journalists have protested and they will protest any attempts to pursue anything against the spirit of Liberation War in the name of religion.”
Bangladesh Women Journalists’ Centre President Nasimun Ara Haque Minu said all 13 demands of Hifazat were against Bangladesh. “Ninety percent of women in garments are women. What will happen if they stop work?”
“On the other hand, huge income comes from abroad. Almost half there are women. What will happen to the economy if they are brought back?”
Other journalist leaders also addressed the rally.
Ganajagaran Mancha spokesperson Imran H Sarker and other organisations expressed their solidarity with the rally.
Source: bdnews24
