BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has said that if his party forms the government, it will give top priority to reviewing the report prepared by the Media Reform Commission.
He said, “Our commitment is very clear. You have seen in our 31-point agenda that we explicitly stated we want an independent media, and we want to build it.”
On Monday, Mirza Fakhrul made the remarks while speaking as the chief guest at a discussion organized by the Broadcast Journalist Center (BJC) at the Bangladesh-China Friendship Conference Center in Sher-e-Bangla Nagar.
He explained that BNP had planned to establish a commission to reform the media after coming to power, and although that commission has already been formed and its report completed, no discussions were held afterward.
Fakhrul reiterated that the report would be reviewed on a priority basis if BNP forms the government. “We hope that if we are given the responsibility to govern by the people, we will undoubtedly treat this as a priority. BNP wants to see and build an independent media.”
He added, “Reform is only possible when it is embraced from the heart and sincerely desired. Without that, we do not know how much reform can truly be achieved.”
Referring to 1975, Fakhrul said, “A one-party system—BAKSAL—was established. All newspapers were shut down except four, which were under government control. When Ziaur Rahman came to power, he established a free and independent press. Whenever BNP governed, we took many steps to strengthen and modernize the media.”
BNP’s secretary general also noted that journalists today are divided into many unions, often aligned with different political parties. “Political parties do not want to put anyone in their pocket. But if journalists themselves choose to be in someone’s pocket, that becomes a big problem.”
He stated that over the past 15 years, many journalists, acting on their own, supported an authoritarian system. “Journalists need their own commitment too — they must stay above partisan influence and uphold independent journalism.