Bangladesh: The daily newspaper called Dainik Dinkal; its political bias, if any; copies of the issues of 13 and 22 August 1996, 22 October, 9 and 13 November 1996, and 12 May 1997

The Research Directorate was unable to contact the editorial office of or obtain copies of the daily newspaper Dainik Dinkal for 13 and 22 August 1996, 22 October 1996, 9 and 13 November 1996, and 12 May 1997.

Please note that the Paris-based Reporters sans Frontiers (RSF) reported in 1996 that the Bangladesh Ministry of News and Broadcasting estimated that approximately 530 newspapers were in circulation at that time, that some 40-50 dailies are published "more or less regularly" in Dhaka in Bengali or English, but that many have "only a fictitious existence serving only financial interests" (n.d.). The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) stated in its 1998 annual report that more than 500 newspapers and magazines exist in Bangladesh (CPJ 31 Dec. 1998).

The Research Directorate was unable to obtain information on when the Dainik Dinkal was founded, where it is located, the size of its publication run, its circulation/distribution, funding, or the language of publication.

Sources have described the Dainik Dinkal as a pro-BNP daily newspaper (CCPJ Apr. 1996), a "daily close to the BNP" (RSF n.d.) and in June 1999 as "an opposition daily" (Dhaka Courier 4 June 1999).

The following information relates to attacks against offices, journalists and photographers of the Dainik Dinkal.

     On 5 March 1996 anti-government activists threw bombs at the home of Faruque Ahmed Liton, a Dainik Dinkal correspondant, and vandalized it (RSF/IFEX Action Alert Service 26 Mar. 1996).

On 29 April 1996 the office of the Dainik Dinkal was attacked by individuals, who accused the newspaper of bias and of "distorting and fabricating news of anti-government agitation" (RSF n.d.; CCPJ Apr. 1996). Neither source indicated in which city or district the office was located.

On 30 June 1996 the Barisal office of the Dainik Dinkal was attacked and damaged by student activists of the Awami League (RSF n.d.).

On 3 September 1997 the Dhaka-based English-language newspaper The Daily Star reported that a defamation suit had been filed by Advocate Satyendranath Bhakta against Akhtarul Alam, editor, and Professor Majidul Islam, publisher, of the Dainik Dinkal for publishing "a false report" on 26 August 1997.

Sometime in 1997 the editor of Dainik Dinkal was fined Taka 1000.0 and given one month's imprisonment for libel for publishing a news report that alleged that "AL had been involved in maldistribution of fertilizer" (ASK/BLAST/MLAA/Odikhar 1998, 52).

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CJP) reported three attacks against Dainik Dinkal journalists in 1998: (1) on 9 June 1998 a group of unidentified men outside the Ranjagar police station in the northeastern town of Mulvibazar beat Faruq Ahmed Bakht of the Dainik Dinkal and four other newspaper correspondents who were reporting on the kidnapping of seven people in connection with a water dispute in the villages of Ghargaon and Raktagram (CPJ 9 June 1998; ibid. 31 Dec. 1998); (2) On 26 July 1998 an armed gang entered the Gazipur Press Club and threatened Dainik Dinkal correspondent Delwar Hossain and other journalists whose "vernacular" daily newspapers had published articles on attacks on landless peasants at the Dewaliabari Landless Shelter in Gazipur, and "possible improprieties" in the Gazipur Additional District Magistrate office (CPJ 26 July 1998; ibid. 31 Dec. 1998); and (3) on 9 November 1998 Khaled Mahmud and eight other newspaper photographers were beaten with clubs by BNP political activists while covering a three-day strike called by the opposition BNP (9 Nov. 1998; ibid. 31 Dec. 1998).

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

Ain O Salish Kendra (ASK)/Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services (BLAST)/Madaripur Legal Aid Association (MLAA)/Odhikar. 1998. Human Rights in Bangladesh 1997. Dhaka: The University Press Limited.

The Canadian Committee to Protect Journalists (CCPJ). April 1996. Attacks on the Press in Bangladesh. [Internet] [Accessed 27 May 1999]

Committee to Protect Journalists (CJP). 31 December 1998.Country Report: Bangladesh. [Internet] [Accessed 27 May 1998]

_____. 9 November 1998. Bangladesh. [Internet] [Accessed 27 May 1999]

_____. 26 July 1998. Bangladesh" [Internet] [Accessed 27 May 1999]

_____. 9 June 1998. Bangladesh. [Internet] [Accessed 27 May 1999]

The Daily Star [Dhaka]. 3 September 1997. "Defamation Suit Filed Against Editor, Publisher of Dainik Dinkal." [Internet] [Accessed 27 May 1999]

Dhaka Courier .4 June 1999. Vol. 15, No. 45. "Media Watch." [Internet] [Accessed 3 June 1999]

Reporters sans Frontiers (RSF) [Paris]. N.d. Zone Asia and the Pacific: Bangladesh. [Internet] [Accessed 27 May 1999]

Reporters sans Frontiers/IFEX Action Alert Service. 26 March 1996. Action Alert: Photographers Assaulted While Covering Demonstration; Offices of Two Newspapers Vandalised; Two Journalists Assaulted. [Internet] [Accessed 27 May 1999]

Additional Sources Consulted

Bangladesh: A Travel Survival Kit. June 1996.

Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics. January 1997. Statistical Pocketbook of Bangladesh 1996.

Benn's Media World 1996. 1996.

The Europa World Year Book 1998. 1998.

Index on Censorship [London]. Bi-monthly. July/August 1996- May/June 1998.

PAIS International in Print: January-December 1998. 1999.

State of Human Rights in Bangladesh in 1996. 5 April 1997.

The World's News Media: A Comprehensive Reference Guide. 1991.

Electronic sources: CISNET, Internet, IRB Databases.

Non-documentary sources:

Unsuccessful attempts to contact the National Library of Canada, Ottawa.