Professionals from different sectors on Thursday formed a human chain protesting a report published by Prothom Alo on Independence Day and demanding the cancellation of the declaration of the newspaper.
They denounced the story and the newspaper as being against the spirit of independence and accused those involved in the publication and dissemination of the news of being "subversive.”
Teachers, writers, poets, cultural personalities, artists, journalists, over a hundred social and cultural organizations, and people from various professions expressed their demand at the human chain organized under the banner of “Shadhinota Shocheton Nagorik Shomaj” at the Central Shaheed Minar.
Dhaka University Vice Chancellor Prof Md Akhtaruzzaman said Prothom Alo published the news and photographs on Independence Day to create a special platform to support propaganda and communal conflict by mocking the independence of Bangladesh.
“In a civilized society, there are some basic principles of journalism. But when someone practices ‘yellow journalism' and disseminates falsehoods, especially hurting the ideals of the Liberation War, it is a kind of attack on the sovereignty of our country,” he stated.
Shahriar Kabir, president of the Ekattorer Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee, said the publication of controversial news cannot be labelled only as “yellow” or “subversive journalism.”
“Through this, the dignity of our independence has been attacked. We do not know how to condemn it. This news was made with a very deliberate motive,” he said.
Dhaka University Teachers' Association President Prof Nizamul Hoque Bhuiyan and General Secretary Prof Zeenat Huda, cultural personalities Pijush Bandyopadhyay, Riaz, Urmila Srabanti Kar, Tarin Jahan, Tanvin Sweety, Shahed Sharif Khan, Shamima Tusty, and Suvro Dev, among others, also spoke at the human chain.
