Religious bodies, scribes in Tripura condemn attack on minority Hindus, media in Bangladesh

Religious leaders, devotees of ISKCON, Jagannath Bari temple along with other Hindu religious and journalists belonging to 10 media organizations staged a demonstration in Agartala on Wednesday wearing black badges to condemn the atrocities on Hindus and killing of more than five scribes and the series of attacks on media persons in Bangladesh.

Hundreds of devotees and religious leaders of Agartala Jagannath Bari temple, ISKCON and other Sanatan believers along with other traditional religious societies organized a “Protest Sankirtan Rally" in front of Rabindra Satabarshiki Bhavan with religious prayers and a rally, which passes different thoroughfares of Agartala city  ‘Sankirtan’  against the ongoing oppression, torture and attacks on minority Hindus, artists, writers, journalists in Bangladesh. The religious leaders speaking with media persons strongly condemned attacks on minority Hindus in Bangladesh and urged the both Bangladesh and India government to take strong measures to protect their minorities and their properties.

While, in a joint statement, the journalists said that so far, more than five scribes have been killed in the violence in Bangladesh while over 100 media persons have been injured in a series of attacks.

The statement claimed that Bangladesh authorities have banned more than 50 journalists, which is against the freedom of media.

The journalists' bodies included Tripura Journalist Union (TJU), Tripura Working Journalists Association, Tripura Sports Journalists Club, and Tripura Photo Journalists Association.

TJU President Pranab Sarkar said the interim government in Bangladesh must facilitate all the necessary arrangements so that the journalists can discharge their professional responsibilities.

He also urged the interim government headed by Muhammad Yunus not to victimize any innocent journalist.

Several other journalists and media organizations in Tripura have organized protest demonstrations and rallies during the past one week to denounce the attacks on their colleagues in Bangladesh.

Expressing solidarity, senior journalists and members of the Agartala Press Club held a protest demonstration on Sunday.

Journalists said that besides the media, writers, singers, performing artists and cultural personalities of Tripura also share close bonding with their counterparts in Bangladesh.

After the Liberation War of 1971, performing artists from both the countries held numerous shows in the Northeastern states and Bangladesh. Such events must continue to maintain the friendship between the people of the two countries, said agitated a senior journalist.

In the most recent case, a scribe named Pradip Kumar Bhowmik was killed in Sirajganj district on August 4th. Bhowmik, who was a correspondent with the local newspaper 'Daily Khoborpatra', was reportedly attacked by unknown assailants at the Rayganj Press Club, and later succumbed to his injuries.

He was the fifth journalist killed in Bangladesh since the beginning of July, sources said.

Recently, the Press Emblem Campaign (PEC), a global media safety and rights body, also expressed shock and serious concern over the killing of a number of working journalists across Bangladesh in the recent past.