The Supreme Court on Tuesday cleared the way for the government to publish the gazette notification implementing the recommendations of 9th Wage Board for journalists. The apex court stayed for eight weeks the High Court order that issued status quo on publication of the gazette notification.
A four-member Bench of the Appellate Division headed by Chief Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain passed the order following a petition filed by the government seeking stay on the High Court order of status quo. Attorney General Mahbubey Alam represented the government while Advocate AF Hasan Ariff appeared for the Newspaper Owners’ Association of Bangladesh (NOAB).
On August 6, the HC issued the status quo for two months. The court also issued a rule asking the respondents to explain why the unilateral finalisation of the award by the 9th Wage Board without giving the stakeholders opportunity to raise objections to the recommendations should not be declared illegal.
Earlier on July 13, the NOAB expressed concern over the 9th Wage Board proposal, saying such “unrealistic” proposals will create a great crisis in the newspaper industry which is going through a hard time.
In a statement it said, newspaper owners always try to provide financial security and salary-allowance to journalists and employees. For this, despite difficulties, some newspapers have been trying to implement the government-announced Wage Board Award. At present, however, the newspaper industry is passing a harder time than at any given point in the past. In such a situation, the unrealistic proposal of the 9th Newspaper Wage Board will create a great crisis for this industry. The Chairman of the 9th Wage Board has finalised the Wage Board Award unilaterally and submitted it to the Ministry concerned.
The 7th and the 8th Wage Boards were also announced in such a unilateral way. We can ask a judicial committee to find out how many newspapers’ financial position permitted to implement those awards.
We oppose the very idea of journalists going to the government for fixing wages like uneducated industrial workers. Why cannot the journalists support an independent body outside the Information Ministry to fix their wages independently of the government?
Those who believe in independent professional journalism and who are highly responsible journalists must avoid government participated wage board award for determining their just salaries. To be happy with the government awarded impractical wages is not free journalism. The wages fixed by an undemocratic government cannot be helpful for free press. The government uses such wage awards to keep the journalists happy and make the free press difficult to survive financially.
The true journalists can get good wages if only facilities are available for financial viability of the newspapers. The journalists are not found complaining about high prices of newsprint or lack of private sector advertisements.
If journalists are the heart of the newspapers then advertisements are the life blood of a newspaper to survive on its own. When the journalists prefer to the government for better wages then they should ask the government also to ensure proper income for the newspapers to enable them to implement the wages fixed by the government. But that they do not do so. They are making free to survive to the delight of the government. The fight of the journalists against black laws has gone nowhere. The newspapers are in fear of such black laws.
In Bangladesh, a new undemocratic political situation has been created in which it is difficult to know who are journalists when most of them are party activists of undemocratic party politics.
A day before the Appellate Division’s directives, the journalists in Dhaka and elsewhere in the country demonstrated to press their demands including announcement of the new wage structure, job security of the journalists and enactment of Mass Media Employees’ Act. BFUJ president Molla Jalal said that the rally was arranged to create pressure on the government demanding a new wage structure increasing wages of journalists and other employees and against the NOAB move.
It should not be unknown to the real journalists how difficult it is for newspapers to survive on their own income. The press is not an industry where profit making is an attraction. There are of course those among newspaper owners and journalists who exploit their positions in the newspaper world to make money through other ways with the cooperation from the government.
The harsh truth is existence of free press is impossible in Bangladesh. In the first place most of them who call them journalists are party activists with partisan political ambition.
Under press freedom no journalist will choose to be a party activist. Only under socialism where free press does not exist the journalists are party activists. Something has gone serious wrong for press freedom in Bangladesh when journalists are divided as political activists of the government party and the opposition party. Lies are everywhere getting their way.
We have to admit that if there is any struggle to save free press it is being done by those genuine journalists who appreciate the financial crisis of the newspapers and who are not party activists with political ambition for political positions. They are making sacrifices for being underpaid not because the owners are becoming rich and not paying but because they, like the true journalists, are the believers in the cause of the press for need of good governance.
If the journalists are party activists there is no hope for free press to survive and that is exactly what is happening in Bangladesh. When the journalists are party activists they do not belong to free press or democracy. They are for dictatorship of socialism.
The Supreme Court observed while vacating the stay order of the High Court Division that journalists are the heart of the newspapers. It was a very deep and sweet observation. But their Lordships have to admit that party activists of political parties are not the kind of journalists who can be expected to be the heart and soul of the free press.
