Yunus-led Bangladesh government has targeted 640 journalists in eight months, says report released on World Press Freedom Day
The Hindu
Interim Bangladesh government under Muhammad Yunus targets journalists, stifling media freedom, documented by Indian rights group RRAG.
GUWAHATI
The interim Bangladesh government headed by Muhammad Yunus has targeted 640 journalists in eight months to throttle media freedom, an Indian rights group said on Saturday.
The New Delhi-based Rights and Risks Analysis Group (RRAG) documented these cases in its report released to mark World Press Freedom Day 2025.
The report said the Bangladeshi media had faced systematic and organised repression since the violent ouster of the Sheikh Hasina government in August 2024. This was evident from criminal cases filed against 182 journalists, acts of violence against 206 others, denial of accreditation to 167 more, and inquiries initiated against 85 senior journalists by the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit, the anti-terror and anti-money laundering arm of the Bangladesh government.
The senior journalists are associated with 39 media houses.
“If these were not enough, journalists in Bangladesh have been sacked instantly on the whims and fancies of the leaders of the Anti-Discrimination Students’ Movement (ADSM), who have emerged as the holy cows in Bangladesh,” the RRAG report said.
The ADSM, led by Hasnat Abdullah, not only attacked The Daily Star and Prothom Alo, two independent dailies, but also trespassed into Somoy TV and forced the owners to sack five journalists, the report said.
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