A human chain program was held in protest of the harassment and false extortion case filed against Moniruzzaman Sheikh Jewel, a member of the Gopalganj Journalists Union and president of the Kotalipara Journalists Forum, for publishing news of irregularities in road maintenance work from Sikirbazar Scout Bhaban in Kotalipara Upazila of Gopalganj.
The hour-long human chain program was organized by the Gopalganj Journalists Union in front of the Gopalganj Press Club at 11 am on Saturday (July 11).
During the human chain, Gopalganj Journalists Union President Md. Selim Reza, General Secretary Jayanta Shirali, Joint General Secretary Sajjad Hossain, Journalist Palash Sikder, Tungipara Press Club President Afzal Hossain, Kotalipara Journalists Forum Vice President Kamrul Hasan, Chan Mia Sikder and others spoke.
Journalists from the Gopalganj Journalists Union, Tungipara Press Club and Kotalipara Journalists Forum, along with journalists from the district, were present at the time.
The speakers demanded the immediate withdrawal of the false case and said that a journalist has been filed with an extortion case to harass him for publishing news about irregularities and corruption in road construction work. This is an attempt to silence independent journalism and the media.
They said that there have been complaints for a long time about the quality of various road construction and maintenance works in Gopalganj district under the supervision of Yasin Hossain, the local representative of Jakaullah and Brothers Limited. They called on the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) and the concerned administration to impartially investigate the quality of these works and take necessary measures.
The speakers also said that it is the responsibility of journalists to publish news against irregularities and corruption in development projects. But instead of investigating the irregularities, filing cases against journalists is very worrying. They demanded that those involved in irregularities in road construction should be brought under the law and exemplary punishment should be ensured and harassment of journalists should be stopped.
Incidentally, on July 6, Amar Desh Online published a news story titled ‘Irregularities in road construction in Kotalipara, video of carpeting being removed goes viral’. The next day, on July 7, Yasin Hossain, the local representative of Jakaullah and Brothers Limited, filed an extortion case against journalist Jewel in the Senior Judicial Magistrate Court of Gopalganj.
Chuadanga-based Jakaullah and Brothers Limited has been awarded the contract to maintain the 1,265-meter-long road from Shikirbazar Scout Bhaban to East Chitrapara at a cost of Tk 74,67,301 under the Local Government Engineering Department’s (LGED) ‘Critical Rural Infrastructure Development Project (Phase II)’.
Locals have alleged that due to the use of substandard construction materials, the carpeting of the road started coming off within a few days of the completion of the work and landslides occurred at various places within a short time. The issue has been widely discussed in print, electronic and social media.