Bangladeshi journalist killed, PEC demands fair investigation

Digital Desk: A young Bangladeshi journalist was killed in the first half of 2023, which is tragic news to start the New Year. A group of criminals killed Ashiqul Islam (27), a Dainik Paryabekhyan worker from the Brahmanbaria region (which is close to the State of Tripura in northeastern India), on January 9. The international organisation for media safety and rights, Press Emblem Campaign (PEC), condemned the killing and called for an impartial investigation to bring those guilty to book.

"With 116 fatalities worldwide, the last year was particularly dangerous for journalists in the field. According to PEC President Blaise Lempen, Ukraine has lost 34 media professionals, followed by Mexico (17), Haiti (8), Pakistan (6), Philippines (5), Colombia, India (4 each), Bangladesh, Israel/Palestine, Honduras, and Yemen (3 each), among other countries, in 2022. (www.pressemblem.ch). Lempen has asked for an international convention to address the issue of jouno-murders, pleading with Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for a high level investigation to look into the motivation of the offenders.

Ashiqul was attacked while returning home from a nighttime event, according to PEC's spokesperson for south Asia, Nava Thakuria. Ashiqul was seriously hurt by the perpetrators. Bystanders brought him to a local hospital, but he died from his injuries there shortly after. The Bangla police have detained at least one person and are looking into the perpetrators' motives after accusing him of being involved in the crime.

Last year, assailants killed Bangladeshi journalists Hashibur Rahaman Rubel, Mohiuddin Sarker Nayeem, and Abdul Bari. On the other hand, India saw the deaths of Subhash Kumar Mahato, Juned Khan Pathan, Rohit Kumar Biswal, and Sudhir Saini. As a result of several incidences, Pakistan lost Sadaf Naeem, Arshad Sharif, Muhammad Younis, Iftikhar Ahmed, Hasnain Shah, Murtaza Shar, and Athar Mateen. Similar to this, the unrelenting military crimes in Myanmar in 2022 claimed the lives of photojournalist Aye Kyaw and reporter Pu Tui Dim.