Information Minister Hasanul Haq Inu on Thursday said the government is not involved in instigating anyone in filing cases against The Daily Star editor Mahfuz Anam.
While talking to reporters at a press briefing, he said all the cases were filed by individuals at their personal levels and it is the court that will decide whether the cases have any merit. Regarding Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s recent remarks about Mahfuz Anam, Inu said her statement was misconstrued and she only spoke in the context of the caretaker government that took over power in 2007. “There was no personal attack or ill motive in her speech against Mahfuz Anam.”
Her statement, Inu said, was based on how the caretaker government took over power illegally and imprisoned politicians, businessmen and others indiscriminately. Asked whether the government is exerting influence over the media, he refuted it saying that there are 2834 newspapers published across the country and most of which are critical of the government.
Highlighting ethics exercised by both politicians and editors, he countered saying that if editors have the right to criticise, they must also have the capacity to take criticisms. Besides, the Information Minister said, the government does not have any problem with neither The Daily Star nor Prothom Alo. But the fact is that, their programmes are attended by ministers regularly, Inu said adding that had there been a conflict it would not have happened.
The briefing was arranged in the wake of the recent reports released by Amnesty International, International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and Human Rights Watch (HRW) criticising the wholesale filing of cases against Mahfuz Anam. The minister brushed aside the claims made by the Amnesty International in its report regarding freedom of press, terming it ‘one-sided’ and ‘partial’.
Asked about the speculations that the government is prohibiting organisations from giving advertisements to The Daily Star and Prothom Alo, he said such claims are unfounded as the government has no scope to even use advertisements as a weapon against them.
He insisted that every newspaper equally receives government ads, but it is up to the private companies where they want to publish their ads or not. Sought comments on the issue that the two leading dailies cannot cover the Prime Minister’s programmes, he said that it is the Detective Branch that decides who can and who cannot.
