Yunus-led Bangladesh government has targeted 640 journalists in eight months, says report released on World Press Freedom Day

Bangladesh Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus. File.
| Photo Credit: PTI

GUWAHATI

The interim Bangladesh government headed by Muhammad Yunus has targeted 640 journalists in eight months to throttle media freedom, an Indian rights group said on Saturday.

The New Delhi-based Rights and Risks Analysis Group (RRAG) documented these cases in its report released to mark World Press Freedom Day 2025.

The report said the Bangladeshi media had faced systematic and organised repression since the violent ouster of the Sheikh Hasina government in August 2024. This was evident from criminal cases filed against 182 journalists, acts of violence against 206 others, denial of accreditation to 167 more, and inquiries initiated against 85 senior journalists by the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit, the anti-terror and anti-money laundering arm of the Bangladesh government.

The senior journalists are associated with 39 media houses.

“If these were not enough, journalists in Bangladesh have been sacked instantly on the whims and fancies of the leaders of the Anti-Discrimination Students’ Movement (ADSM), who have emerged as the holy cows in Bangladesh,” the RRAG report said.

The ADSM, led by Hasnat Abdullah, not only attacked The Daily Star and Prothom Alo, two independent dailies, but also trespassed into Somoy TV and forced the owners to sack five journalists, the report said.

Rahman Mizan of Deepto TV and Fazle Rabbi of ATN Bangla were summarily terminated from their positions after asking the newly-appointed Cultural Advisor, Mostofa Sarwar Farooki, critical questions on political violence, national unity, public accountability, and the number of people killed during the July-August 2024 political unrest, the RRAG said.

“Such throttling of press freedom was unseen under any previous regime in Bangladesh, and currently, an atmosphere of fear grips the journalists in that country. Next to the Awami League activists, journalists face the most serious risks in Dr. Yunus’s Bangladesh,” RRAG director Suhas Chakma said.

He also said the interim government had enabled impunity in non-state actors attacking the media, except in three cases where the accused have been arrested for assaults on journalists.

The RRAG will submit the report to UN agencies and key actors in the international community, especially donor countries and financial institutions, for appropriate action.