Staff Reporter :
Information and Broadcasting Minister Hasan Mahmud on Sunday said that the cable operators are breaching condition of halting foreign television channels by suspending ‘clean feed’ based broadcasters.
“I learnt that the operators stopped airing those foreign TV channels which have ensured clean feed broadcastings. It is breaching of conditions and they must be responsible for this,” information minister said while addressing a press briefing at his office in the secretariat in the capital.
The minister said that 17 or more foreign TV channels including BBC, CNN, Al Jazeera, Russian TV, NHK, and Animals Planet are broadcasting clean feed programmes.
But cable operators keep all of those channels suspended which is clear violation of the conditions, Dr. Hasan Mahmud said.
Replying to a query, information minister said that Bangladesh has been deprived of Tk 2000 crore investments annually due to airing foreign channels with advertisement.
He said also if the country’s industries get those investments, then the local media would be strong enough financially and the workers curtails would not happen anymore.
He said that the government has also been deprived of revenue of several hundred crores of taka.
About cable operators’ threat of starting agitation on this issue, the minister said it would be illogical.
“There is no logic to organize agitations on this issue, because we have given them two year times before these actions,” the minister said.
He said countries like neighbouring India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, countries of Europe and the Middle East have the same laws.
“Meanwhile, those channels were aired in our country bypassing our exiting laws. It would not be allowed anymore,” Dr. Hasan Mahmud said.
He said, there are five cable operators only which have been permitted for down linking foreign channels while numbers of others have operated illegally through piracy.
The information minister said also that the cable operators have not faced loss in their services because they have not curtailed their charge.
Moreover, they are enjoying less cost due to maintaining less number of channels now, he added.
The minister said, most of the stakeholders have congratulated us for this action.
Dhaka Union of journalists, Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists, Artists associations and other organizations have welcomed the decision, he said. The minister however warned operators against keeping any foreign channel on air without ensuring clean feed.
“Mobile court will take actions any where across the country, the secretary of the ministry will conduct meeting with DCs soon in this regards,” he said.
Meanwhile, SM Anwar Parvez, President of Cable Operators Association of Bangladesh (Coab) said that they have not threatened of starting movement against the government’s action.
But a part of the cable operators did that.
SM Anwar however said, the government should give us a list of clean feed based broadcasters so that we can keep those channels on airing.
“If any channel air a tiny advertisement of any airlines and mobile court suddenly conduct their monitoring just the moment, the whole liabilities would be upon on us. So the government should give a certain list which channels have to be kept opened,” he said.
