FTPO stages demo in front of Deepto TV

Leaders and activists of Federation of Television Professionals Organisation (FTPO), a platform of Bangladeshi television professionals, carried out the protest programme demanding cancellation of airing Sultan Suleiman, a Turkish television show dubbed in Bangla. A number of popular TV artistes including actors Mamunur Rashid, Hasan Imam, Mahfuz Ahmed and Bonya Mirza participated in the protest programme, alleging that dubbed foreign TV serials are putting a negative impact on the country’s TV industry. Claiming that dubbed TV programmes are creating uneven competition for local artistes, the protesters demanded banning of all dubbed foreign programmes including the country’s most popular TV series Sultan Suleiman,. Contacted, Deepto TV’s Chief Operating Officer (COO) Qazi Urfi told to Dhaka Tribune: “If the viewers are entertained by any particular show, we are bound to broadcast it. We want to give contents to the viewers what they want to see.” In reply to FTPO’s allegation that Sultan Suleiman’s contents are affecting our tradition and culture, the CEO said: “It is the audience who would decide whether any particular TV programme has any bad element in it. We have received hundreds of requests from the audience urging us not to bow down to “pressure and interest of a vested group” by stopping Sultan Suleiman. FTPO leaders and activists alleged that local artistes are losing their job facing an “unequal competition”, since audience are turning away their faces from local programmes and serials. The FTPO are scheduled to stage demonstrations in front of Ekushey TV on Tuesday, SATV on December 28, and Maasranga TV on December 29. Maasranga TV’s Head of Programme AM Arifur Rahman yesterday told the Dhaka Tribune: “Business policy of a TV station should be obtained by the owner, not by pressure groups serving their own interest ignoring the taste of the mass audience.” Veteran Director Syed Salahuddin Zaki, the chief operating officer of SATV, said: “We are careful about cultural sensitivity and airing foreign programmes which would not bring any controversy among the audience.”