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NYT editorial unfairly smears Bangladesh

28 December 2003, 18:00 PM
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
By Edward Al-Hussainy, Washington, DC
28 December 2003, 18:00 PM
Dr. Ahmed's December 23 article regarding the editorial in the New York Times (Dec. 14, 2003, The Risks of Journalism in Bangladesh) dismisses the Times' conclusion regarding deterioration of journalistic freedom in Bangladesh by hiding behind the assertion that such freedoms are inherent in a democracy. Instead of addressing whether such a system is indeed prevalent in Bangladesh, I would like to draw your readers' attention to the extensive list of press freedom violations documented by Reporters Sans Frontiers (RSF), a non-partisan international organisation committed to promoting press freedom, in its 2003 annual report on Bangladesh. The report concludes:

[In 2002] With more than 110 journalists physically attacked, 130 threatened and 25 arrested, the toll under Prime Minister Khaleda Zia's government was exceptionally heavy.

Source: http://www.rsf.org/

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Surely, Dr. Ahmed cannot accuse RSF, which has been a vocal critic of Israel's suppression of the press in the Palestinian territories, of succumbing to a "Zionist stranglehold" or fostering a "colonial arrogance" towards Bangladesh. Indeed, such arguments are divisive and only serve to cloud a discussion of the prevalent deterrents to uninhibited and independent reporting, a vast majority of which has nothing to do with Israel. So while some progress has been made towards the establishment of a free and dynamic press corps in Bangladesh, Dr. Ahmed's conclusion that "Bangladesh is one of the safest countries in the world for real journalists" seems premature. There is still much work ahead.