Condemning the hurried issuance of the gazette on the National Broadcast Policy 2014, leaders of the Jatiya Press Club on Thursday demanded immediate cancellation of the policy and the gazette notification.In a joint statement, President of the press club Kamal Uddin Sabuj and its general secretary Syed Abdal Ahmed protested the national broadcast policy.Expressing concern, they said the policy came as part of an ill motive to gag the voices of private radio and television channels.The statement came hours after the Information Ministry issued the gazette notification on the National Broadcast Policy 2014 amid widespread criticisms by media professionals and some political parties.The statement said, the policy approved by the Cabinet for the private radio-television is an ill-motive to absolutely control the media.”If the policy comes into effect, the private radio and TV channels can’t function independently. The democracy will be at stake and the freedom of expression will be violated,” it noted.The journalist leaders said there are some provisions in the policy which will create horrendous situation for the mass media.The policy does not allow the media to air anything that goes against the law enforcement agencies, government officials having judicial power and the deputy commissioners, to exercise the freedom of expression in talk-shows, and it imposes conditions on airing advertisements.They also demanded formation of an independent broadcast commission under the leadership of a well-respected person with representatives of journalists. “Then the commission should frame the broadcast policy. Otherwise, no policy will be accepted by the journalist community.On Wednesday, the Association of Television Channel Owners (ATCO) at its meeting also demanded immediate formation of an independent broadcast commission to implement the broadcast policy for the electronic media.The ATCO urged the government not to implement the policy until the commission is formed with qualified people.
