Journalist leaders from all over the country have condemned the insulting language that Treasury Bench legislator Shamim Osman used against journalists recently, reports BSS.
In a joint statement, President and Secretary General of Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists (BFUJ) Manzurul Ahsan Bulbul and Abdul Jalil Bhuiya with President and General Secretary of Dhaka Union of Journalists (DUJ) Altaf Mahmud and Kuddus Afrad slated the nasty language used by Shamim Osman to attack journalists and condemned it.
The journalist leaders in the statement said, "The bright image of Shamim Osman and his family that the country's top leaders portrayed recently in Jatiya Sangsad does not go with the kind of words used by him. Rather, the words, statements and gestures used by Shamim Osman question the very nature of his education, taste, politics and family culture."
"The expression of Shamim Osman indicates bad taste. Such a mindset of a legislator and its public display have undermined the prestige of Jatiya Sangsad. This kind of legislators in no way increases the status of parliament, and as the guardian of Jatiya Sangsad, the Honorable Speaker must also understand. The journalist leaders appealed to the Honorable Speaker to take effective action against such activities to uphold the status of the House," the journalist leaders said.
They said, "It is shocking to observe that Shamim Osman during his diatribe referred to the Prime Minister and claimed that she was his guardian. By doing so he has also belittled the Prime Minister to the journalists and media. This is extremely embarrassing for us."
" We are sure", they said, " the Prime Minister at a time when she is undertaking massive programmes for the welfare of journalists and is implementing them will not allow such dirty words and offensive statement by a member of her party to undermine it."
The journalist leaders also appealed to the leader of the party to take steps so that Shamim Osman withdraws his offensive remarks and seeks unconditional apology to the journalist community at the earliest.
They asked Shamim Osman to learn from history and said, " The country's journalist community had carried out its professional responsibility ignoring the blood-shot eyes of many powerful rulers and by exposing all evil forces and godfathers. The case of Narayanganj will be no different. We will not be cowed by such threats."
