‘No more assurances, we want immediate results’

They chanted: “No more false promises. Just deliver the justice.” Factions of Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists (BFUJ) and Dhaka Union of Journalists (DUJ) have declared that if there is no progress of the Sagar-Runi murder case and withdrawal of cases against Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury by February 25, they will hold a human-chain programme on the same day. Omar Farooq, Secretary General of BFUJ said that journalists were being targeted by terrorist and the police. “We want to take necessary actions against them, we want justice,” he said. He also mentions that if the demands of the journalists remain unmet, they will announce bigger programmes on February 25. Shahed Chowdhury, joint secretary of National Press Club, said: “Several former home ministers and police authorities had assured us that progress had been made on solving the Sagar-Runi case. We did not get justice.” He said that the journalists no longer want assurances, they want results. DUJ President Shaban Mahmud said that targeting journalists had become ‘normal’ in the country. He said that politicians sued daily Observer editor and senior reporter Mamunur Rashid for publishing a story on drug trafficking. “Harassing journalists would not stop them from telling the truth to the public,” he said.