Nurul Kabir, president of the Editors’ Council and editor of New Age, said that attacks, vandalism, and arson targeting the offices of Prothom Alo, The Daily Star, and the Chhayanaut building were allowed to happen by some part of the government. He made the remarks while delivering a special guest speech at the sixth broadcasting conference of the Broadcast Journalist Center (BJC) on Saturday afternoon in Dhaka.
The conference was held at the International Mother Language Institute in Segunbagicha, with Information and Broadcasting Advisor Syeda Rizwana Hasan present as chief guest. Speakers at the event repeatedly raised concerns about the attacks on media institutions, describing the incidents as a direct assault on independent journalism and freedom of expression.
Referring to the violence that took place on the night of December 18, Nurul Kabir said announcements had been made one to two days in advance declaring that Prothom Alo, The Daily Star, and Chhayanaut would be destroyed. He said these announcements were publicly known and that the government was aware of them, yet no preventive action was taken. “This is a criminal offence under any law of Bangladesh,” he said, adding that failure to act beforehand indicated that sections of the state allowed the attacks to occur.
On the night of the attacks, the Prothom Alo office was vandalized, set on fire, and looted, leaving the building completely gutted. The Daily Star office was also vandalized and torched the same night. Nurul Kabir said he was harassed when he went to the Daily Star office to express solidarity. He added that those already arrested in connection with the attacks were found to have clear political affiliations.
The conference, moderated by journalist Shahnaz Sharmin, also featured speeches by senior journalists, media professionals, and rights advocates, who condemned the violence and warned that such attacks threaten the foundations of independent media and democratic space in the country.
Bangladesh Feminist Archives 