bdnews24.com :
The Bangladesh ambassador in Washington has contested the write-up of The Daily Star Editor Mahfuz Anam’s daughter in the New York Times.
Tahmima Anam in her opinion “My Father, the Editor, Under Fire” published on Mar 4 claimed what The Daily Star did in 2007 was ‘a common media practice’ in Bangladesh and that her father’s newspaper was a target of the state. She said her father’s confession in a television talk-show that he had published unverified
reports under military pressure “could be an excellent opportunity to revise journalistic practice”.
“Instead, the state is exploiting the chance to double down on its suppression of free speech,” she wrote.
Ambassador Mohammad Ziauddin has protested those claims and said the government had not taken any action against him, nor has it cracked down on independent media.
“There hasn’t been any attack on free speech. Several civil lawsuits have been filed against Mr. Anam by individuals,” he said in the rejoinder to New York Times. The ambassador said under pressure from the military junta in 2007, Anam published a series of “uncorroborated claims that led to the arrest and 11-month unlawful detention of Sheikh Hasina, then the opposition leader and currently the prime minister”.
“Mr. Anam was not engaging in a “common media practice,” as Ms. Anam claims. Several newspapers resisted the pressure and refused to print the falsehoods”.
“Mr. Anam confessed to his mistakes on a talk show that was televised on a Bangladesh TV channel last month and has been widely criticized for his previous actions,” the ambassador said.
The Bangladesh ambassador in Washington has contested the write-up of The Daily Star Editor Mahfuz Anam’s daughter in the New York Times.
Tahmima Anam in her opinion “My Father, the Editor, Under Fire” published on Mar 4 claimed what The Daily Star did in 2007 was ‘a common media practice’ in Bangladesh and that her father’s newspaper was a target of the state. She said her father’s confession in a television talk-show that he had published unverified
reports under military pressure “could be an excellent opportunity to revise journalistic practice”.
“Instead, the state is exploiting the chance to double down on its suppression of free speech,” she wrote.
Ambassador Mohammad Ziauddin has protested those claims and said the government had not taken any action against him, nor has it cracked down on independent media.
“There hasn’t been any attack on free speech. Several civil lawsuits have been filed against Mr. Anam by individuals,” he said in the rejoinder to New York Times. The ambassador said under pressure from the military junta in 2007, Anam published a series of “uncorroborated claims that led to the arrest and 11-month unlawful detention of Sheikh Hasina, then the opposition leader and currently the prime minister”.
“Mr. Anam was not engaging in a “common media practice,” as Ms. Anam claims. Several newspapers resisted the pressure and refused to print the falsehoods”.
“Mr. Anam confessed to his mistakes on a talk show that was televised on a Bangladesh TV channel last month and has been widely criticized for his previous actions,” the ambassador said.
