GAUTAM LAHIRI
Since August 5, 2024, Bangladesh’s media landscape has been in turmoil. Most media houses and key positions have been seized in a manner akin to occupation.
Under the leadership of the interim Mohammad Yunus government, 18 journalists have been imprisoned, a concerning attack on press freedom. These journalists have been detained without bail hearings, unjustly separated from their families, livelihoods, and responsibilities. Additionally, over 300 journalists have been forced out of the profession due to false cases, including fabricated murder charges, an unprecedented situation globally.
According to Reporters Without Borders’ World Press Freedom Index, Bangladesh ranks 165th out of 180 countries, further highlighting the erosion of media freedom. International organizations have called for the release of detained journalists and the withdrawal of false cases, but the Bangladeshi government has taken no action.
The media in Bangladesh is in a severe crisis, with journalists facing lawsuits, arrests, attacks, job losses, and financial suppression.
In the past five months, media repression has intensified:
🔸 600+ journalists facing lawsuits
🔸 50+ media offices attacked
🔸 6 journalists killed
🔸 18 journalists arrested
🔸 100+ journalists injured
🔸 1,000+ journalists forced to resign or dismissed
🔸 96 journalists ordered to disclose financial records
🔸 168 journalists’ press accreditations revoked
🔸 18 journalists’ bank accounts frozen
🔸 83 journalists’ press club memberships revoked
🔸 Most media houses forcibly taken over
Is this press freedom? The government appears to be shutting down all avenues for truth, putting journalists at unprecedented risk. If independent journalism is destroyed, a dark future awaits the country and its people.
