Bangladesh Sangbadpatra Parishad (BSP), Bangladesh Editors' Forum and Dhaka Bar Association have strongly protested publishing untrue news using a child by the daily Prothom Alo on Independence Day on March 26.
In a joint statement, they demanded trial of the people involved in the acts of insulting the country's hard-earned Independence.
In the statement, Dhaka Lawyers Association President Md Mizanur Rahman (Mamun) and General Secretary Khandkar Golam Kibria Jobair said, "The association strongly condemns and protests the publication of false, baseless, fabricated, anti-state and anti-independence news by the Prothom Alo newspaper."
Chief advisor of the Editors' Forum and the Daily Observer editor Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury, convener Rafiqul Islam Ratan and member secretary Farooq Ahmed Talukdar in a statement said, "We strongly condemn and protest false, baseless and motivated news the daily Prothom Alo is publishing to tarnish the image of the state and the nation".
The forum leaders demanded trial of those responsible for the incident under specific case avoiding arrest at night.
Bangladesh Sangbadpatra Parishad (BSP), an organization of about 300 newspaper publishers, strongly condemned and protested such false reporting, saying that the report published by the Prothom Alo is completely against the principle and ethics of newspapers and journalism.
BSP president Mozaffar Hossain Paltu and general secretary MG Kibria Chowdhury expressed the hope that appropriate authorities will take legal action against it.
Earlier, Dhaka University Teachers Association (DUTA) and the Editors Guild, an organization of editors of print, electronic and online media, issued similar statements condemning and protesting against such false news published by the Daily Prothom Alo.
Bangladesh Swadhinata Parishad, Bangabandhu Sangskritik Jote and various social and cultural organizations also formed human chains and held protest rallies condemning publication of news insulting the country's Independence.
Source: Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha