He can’t write now because DGFI is not feeding him: Hasina on editor

Sheikh Hasina has taken a jibe at a newspaper editor who has questioned freedom of journalism in Bangladesh, saying he cannot write now because the stream of information from the military intelligence agency for him has dried up.

Amid concerns by the Western countries over freedom of speech and journalism along with human rights in Bangladesh, English daily The Daily Star Editor Mahfuz Anam has spoken about “pressure on journalists” in the country.   

In a recent interview with Germany’s Deutsche Welle during Global Media Forum in Bonn, Anam said: “There are many issues that we are not writing about. We should write many issues like the last polls and small elections, but we are not. I should say that we can’t write even though we want to.”

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On Sunday, a journalist asked for the prime minister’s take on the allegation without naming the editor when she came to brief the media on her recent tri-nation tour.

“Would the editor be able to gather the courage to say that he cannot write if the situation was really like this? Would he be courageous enough to say this were he truly under pressure? No-one has pressured him,” Hasina replied.

“But you are speaking about a certain editor. They don’t like it when a democratic system is in place. They like it when the government in Bangladesh is formed through an undemocratic process such as emergency or military government. These (governments) allow them to write as dictated,” she said.

“I think I know who the gentleman you are talking about is. He had told a TV talk show once, after being charged by someone for publishing false news, that: ‘What would I do? I published and wrote what the DGFI had supplied’. Everyone remembers it,” the prime minister said.     

DGFI or Directorate General of Forces Intelligence is the military’s intelligence wing.

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“So, what does it mean if we add his recent comments to the previous ones? He cannot write now because the DGFI is not supplying him with any writing. He is saying he cannot write without being ordered,” the prime minister said.

“He is unable to write because we are not feeding any information through the DGFI. Can’t we conclude that he cannot write without being ordered?” Hasina asked.

The editor was free to write as per his wish, she added.

Hasina also said she was used to newspapers reporting against the Awami League government.

“It doesn’t matter who is writing what if we can stay clean to our conscience,” she said.