To douse the unabated clash between the anti-repression demonstrators and law enforcement agencies, the authority of Jahangirnagar University ordered students to vacate their dormitories.
The protesting students, defying the order, were still challenging the law enforcers who appeared as evacuators with all the means of force.
Amid this tense and fearful situation on the evening of 17 July, Bangla daily Prothom Alo’s campus correspondent Mamun Al Abdullah tried to film some ‘repressive’ police personnel.
All of a sudden, a group of police snatched Mamun’s smartphone and smashed it with their heavy boots. They didn’t stop there. They punched and kicked Mamun mercilessly. When Mamun tried to escape from them, they fired tear shells targeting him and other journalists.
Like Mamum, several journalists were subjected to targeted attacks by police, anti-quota demonstrators, and their rival and pro-government Bangladesh Chhatra League activists since students relaunched the anti-quota movement in early July.
“Journalists fell victims as ‘soft targets’, embracing ‘targeted attacks’ by all the conflicting groups,” regretted Ahammad Foyez, chief coordinator of Our Media, Our Rights, an online community of Bangladeshi journalists.
“At least 50 journalists have experienced targeted attack as of 17 July,” he said, adding that during this time, more than 120 journalists around Bangladesh fell victim to professional hazards while covering the ongoing conflicts.
Despite journalists keeping their distance from the conflicting groups, police allegedly fired tear shells and sound grenades at them at TSC Intersection in Dhaka Univesity and in front of Baitul Mukarram Mosque in Dhaka on 17 July, according to news reports and social media clips.
Calling such attacks ‘unacceptable’ and ‘unfortunate’, Foyez observed that journalists were subjected to ‘planned’ attacks both by the ruling party-student activists and anti-quota demonstrators.
“They might be aggrieved by news reports that went against their vested interests. But police’s target attack on journalists is a grave concern to us,” Foyez said.
A common notion suggests that journalists collect information and produce news for the well-being of the society.
“In any conflicting situation, vested interest groups try to motivate their supporters with propaganda news. That’s why authentic news and truth-based journalists become targets of attack,” said Dr Md Mofizur Rhaman, professor of mass communication and journalism at Dhaka University.
Worldwide, journalism is a risky profession. Hence, the professor advised journalists to take “crucial” personal safety measures.
At the same time, he requested the conflicting groups to provide support to and allow journalists to collect truthful and accurate information.
“Because authentic news will help them reach solutions or meet the demands they have been fighting for,” Mofizur concluded.
