My Thoughts on Bangladesh – Part 8
In the late 1970s I lived in Canada for two
winters and had the honor of studying under a very brilliant professor – Dr.
Muhammad Nabil Esmail. He is an Egyptian Canadian internationally recognized as
an expert on computational methods in engineering. As a foreign student coming
from a third world country, I was afraid of computer, let alone computational
modeling using finite difference, - element and - volume methods to solve a series
of highly complex, non-linear partial differential equations. He was a gifted
teacher who knew how to transform my fear into love, and to this date, I remain
indebted to him for making that transformation possible and easy for me.
In a casual conversation with me one day
Professor Esmail said that if he could see a newspaper from any country he
could tell about the economic condition of that country without even studying
anything about that country. It is worth mentioning here that Prof. Esmail’s research
work in rheology, coating processes in pulp and paper, and transport phenomena
problems has greatly advanced our understanding of those areas. So, to claim
knowledge about a country’s economy by just looking at the quality of the
printing on the newspaper was not a big deal for him!
Nearly 35 years have since passed by and
Bangladesh is a much stronger economy these days than it was back then. The
quality of printing papers used in newspapers, magazines and books has
significantly improved. However, when it
comes to the quality of journalism, I don’t think that we have the quality of
journalists that we had back then. They seemed more honest and less corrupt.
Just some examples below may help here to see my point.
In 2005 I rushed to Bangladesh to rescue my
family properties from a land-grabbing syndicate that was used by Salauddin
Qader Chowdhury (an MP from Chittagong who was then Prime Minister Khaleda
Zia’s adviser on parliament affairs) and his son F. Q. Chowdhury (Fayyaz). The
front-man of the criminal syndicate was Jaker Hosain Chowdhury – who,
reportedly, during 1971 Bangladesh’s liberation war was a Rajakar that
collaborated with the Pakistan military; he was an employee in a madrasa before
developing skills in forgery and extortion to victimize vulnerable people. Soon
after my arrival in Dhaka, I was advised by my well-wishers to call a press
conference in the Dhaka Press Club. The rental fee for reserving a good sized meeting
room there for an hour or two of press conference was rather high by Bangladeshi
standard. We also had to provide lunch packages for all those reporters and
photographers. The conference was well attended and as first-timers – amateurs
- I think we did fairly well to educate the audience about the nature of the
land-grabbing crime which had victimized my family, in spite of all the
legitimate titles and document that we held, let alone the uninterrupted legal
possession of the said land parcel for more than half a century.
The next morning, we bought more than a dozen of
newspapers – Bengali and English – to check which newspaper had published our
press conference. I was simply shocked to see that only one newspaper – the Daily
Janakantha – had the decency, guts or moral high ground to cover our press
conference in the last page! (The only other exception was the Weekly Holiday,
which had been publishing my articles for many years; it posted an article by
me on the subject.) Not a single other daily – even any of the many English
newspapers that have carried my articles and essays for all those years – had
that moral courage to cover our story. I simply could not understand their
justification. I felt betrayed! An insider later informed me that my family
simply had wasted our money, and what we should have done, instead, was to pay
in advance two or three reporters handsomely and they would have covered our
story properly. Since we had not invested on the journalists, ours was a lost
case for such coverage in any of those dailies. What was more shocking was the
revelation (relayed by SaQa’s in-laws) that some of those reporters that had
attended our press conference went to SaQa’s family and relatives disclosing
what they had heard in the press conference. They were probably handsomely paid
off for sharing such information.
The next day, a young reporter working for an
English newspaper came to meet me at my in-law’s Paribagh residence. He seemed
serious but related that since his knowledge of English was not up to the mark
he would rather have me write a mock question and answer piece on the subject.
After some hesitation, I agreed to do him the favor, and handed over my
so-called interview paper. The next day, he said that for the piece to appear
in his newspaper I need to pay him a few thousand Bangladeshi taka. I could not
believe what I was hearing. I was so furious that I almost screamed at him and
told him to get out immediately.
Obviously, I had no knowledge at the time about
the cancerous spread of corruption in the media. I should have known: when the
head of the fish is rotten, it’s simply foolish to expect that other parts are
healthy. When the entire society from
top to bottom is swimming in an ocean of corruption it is difficult to find
people that have remained uncorrupt. In Bangladesh to survive, I am told, one
must either pay or receive bribe. Those who can’t will drown! There is no
middle ground.
Many young journalists have learned this evil
trade quite well and have been able to lead lives that are only possible for the
filthy rich guys. Many of the journalists are known to own lavishly decorated
flats or apartments in posh areas of major cities and own expensive cars which
could not have come from their salary. How could they afford such luxury when
they are paid so poorly in their jobs? Many of these young journalists, sadly,
have no scruples, and have become experts in extortion. They would blackmail
their targets – good or bad guys – to draw huge sums of money. Instead of openly disclosing or sharing their
unbiased, objective findings on such sensitive issues they are known to extort
money from those alleged criminals or bigwigs under the threat of disclosing
their findings. So, if they are handsomely paid off, such ‘sensitive’
investigative reports simply never see the light of the day; otherwise, those reports
become the headlines in news reporting.
Two years ago, two journalists were found dead
in Dhaka in their own apartment. They died of multiple stab wounds in the late
hours of the night. They were married to each other. Their murder still remains
unsolved. In October of 2012, 7 of the 8 suspects were arrested but no motives
were found except that they were all professional killers for hire. The DNA of
the suspects did not, however, match the samples taken from the crime scene
raising the doubt whether those suspects were linked to that crime.
Some journalists suspect that the couples’
investigative journalism on corruption in the energy sector might have led to
their death. They theorize that the couple had sensitive information about land acquisition by a "powerful”
corporation, which made sure that such information never saw the light by
hiring professional killers to silence them forever. And there are others who believe
that the slain journalists had tried to extort money from the ‘powerful’ group
by threatening that if they were not handsomely paid off they would leak the
sensitive information for public consumption. So, the story goes that they were
killed by professional killers.
I don’t know if we would ever know the real truth behind the much talked
about murder of those two journalists in Bangladesh. We are, thus, forced to
only guess on the root causes. However, I won’t be surprised at all if the
truth lied with the latter possibility of extortion. If this journalist couple
had reliable information on a ‘powerful’ corporation or people, what stopped
them from publishing or airing it? Does not their profession require that they
share such findings to the public honestly and unbiasedly?
But greed is eating up the moral fabric in Bangladesh, and extortion is becoming
an established norm these days polluting the field of journalism.
During my meetings with a family friend who runs women’s hostels in
Chittagong city, she mentioned how some journalists had tried to extort money
from her. They falsely accused that her hostel residents – who are mostly
single, unmarried professionals who can’t afford living in apartments for the
rentals charged – were engaged in sex business. It was an outrageous accusation
and absolutely false. Some reporters had called her saying that they could
correct the story by refuting the false accusation provided she agreed to pay them
huge sums of money. She did not want to pay anything and ignored the matter
altogether on the advice of her husband. The matter died down.
Cases of this kind are not uncommon in Bangladesh when honest, hard-working
tax-paying individuals are targeted by immoral journalists to fatten their
coffers. Unfortunately, in Bangladesh because of the ‘power’ of the press, or
perception in that regard, ordinary people are afraid to mess up with anyone
related to journalism or press by suing them for their wilful distortions and
manufactures of false information. One of the largest land-owners in Bangladesh
who was tired of extortions and threats from land-grabbing criminal syndicates that
had targeted his huge real estate properties once told me how he had sold some
plots to journalists at a fraction of the true market price. This way, if those
criminals from land-grabbing syndicates ever threaten him, or his real-estate
business, he has now ‘powerful’ friends within the media world to fight with
him against those vultures. His smart planning has saved his real estate business
from incessant attempts by criminal syndicates. After all, no one wants to mess
up with journalists!
As is often the practice around the globe, unless the country is of course Burma
or similar authoritarian states, journalists have easy access to places where
access of others is limited at best. People expect them to serve as their conduits
to relay their pieces of the story, and sometimes they are lucky in that regard
without costing them too much. But in Bangladesh, when the journalists are
invited and even paid for their travel related expenses to cover an event, they
want the extra ‘sweetening’ money to cover such events in their news reports. Unless
the hosting party is willing to pay such extra money or alternatives demanded
by the journalists, such events may never see their mention anywhere in news
media and TV channels.
We live in an age of information super highways. Many rich guys have seen
the enormous power of media in molding public perception. Naturally, they are
now owners of TV channels, radio stations and newspapers or internet sites.
Their media channels are used to further their business interests and political
aims. Bangladesh is no exception to this newly found source of power. It is
being abused terribly! The employers have shown their employees means to enrich
themselves in this bazaar of obscene immorality and un-satiating greed.
The noble profession of journalism is now tainted by this new breed of
journalists that are money savvy and willing to serve the mammon rather than
sharing unmolested truth that helps to grow and nourish a healthy, conscious
and aware citizenry. Thus, no wonder, many university-going smart guys in
Bangladesh today aspire to become journalists rather than opting for a career
in medicine, engineering, science and technology.
>>> To be continued
>>>
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