MONTHS and months of unpaid salaries, unending unpaid leaves, unpaid termination benefits and penalised unions this is what the pandemic has left the news industry with. An introspection into the fourth estate reveals that those tasked with speaking up against violations have been the victims of gross labour rights violations themselves.
When a legacy newspaper with ruling party alignment terminated 36 people on March 15, 2021, it led to a messy series of events. First, the ones terminated claimed that they were all members of a trade union inside the newspaper, and they had been penalised for unionising.
“We formed a union because two years ago we wanted to pressurise the establishment to pay the arrears of the previous years. At the time of termination we were demanding that we receive increments there had been no increments in the newspaper for eight years,” claimed Bivash Barai, a terminated journalist who was the head of the union unit.
Killings, attacks and intimidation: Journalism under fire across borders
Illustration: Noor Us Safa Anik
For the first time, media organisations in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Nepal are coming together to report about the killings, attacks, harassment, and intimidation of journalists in these South Asian countries. It is the first such collaboration by media outlets in the region.
By Nirmal Jovial
On the evening of August 8, 2020, ten women from Subhash Mohalla in North East Delhi proceeded to the Bhajanpura police station to make the police register a first information report on a complaint they had made two days before. The complaint was that some men had tried to foment communal tension in their locality. The complainants said the men had abused Muslims, tied saffron flags near a mosque and burst crackers in celebration of a ceremony for the construction of a temple at faraway Ayodhya on August 5.
‘Snippets Behind Bars and Other Related Stories’ on display
Photography exhibition underway at DrikPath Bhobon
Photos: Sheikh Mehedi Morshed Rasheek Tabassum Mondira Rasheek Tabassum Mondira
Organised by Drik, a ten-day photography exhibition, titled Snippets Behind Bars and Other Related Stories , is currently underway at the DrikPath Bhobon, Panthapath. The opening ceremony of the exhibition was held on March 10. Photojournalists Shafiqul Islam Kajal and Al Mamun Jibon, along with other participants, were present at the ceremony.
Journalists are storytellers, representing people from all walks of life. This exhibition provides a glimpse into the daily lives of journalists. Several journalists have been detained and imprisoned over the years. During the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, journalists have been working on the front lines, delivering news day and night, risking their lives. Several of them lost their jobs as well. The s