Type | Daily newspaper |
---|---|
Format | Broadsheet |
Owner(s) | Media New Age Limited, HRC Group |
Editor | Nurul Kabir |
Founded | 2003 |
Language | English |
Headquarters | Hamid Plaza, 3000/5/A/1 Bir Uttam CR Datta Road, Hatirpool, Dhaka-1205 |
Website | newagebd |
New Age is a Bangladeshi English-language daily newspaper published from Dhaka. [1] [2] [3] It is printed in broadsheet. It is one of the country's most outspoken newspapers, regarded for its anti-establishment editorial policy. [4] [5] Nurul Kabir, a former leftwing activist, is the present editor of the newspaper. [6] [7]
At one-point, New Age–like its rival, the Daily Star–included a literature page (defunct by mid-2019), which stimulated Bangladesh's English literary scene. [8]
In 2014, the offices of New Age were searched without a warrant by Bangladesh Police. [9] [10] [11]
In 2009, a New Age reporter was tortured by the law enforcement agency Rapid Action Battalion members. [12] [13] [14]
In 2013, editor Nurul Kabir allegedly received a phone call from a person claiming to be a criminal nicknamed "Shahadat," who threatened him, his wife and children, demanded Tk100,000, and ordered him to "speak carefully" when appearing in talk shows. In response, a group of 50 activists signed a petition calling for an investigation and punishment of the alleged crime. [7]
In 2014, police attempted to search the New Age office, at the Tejgaon area in the capital, without a warrant. Over objections from staff, police entered and videotaped some of the interior. Later, a police official said it was a "misunderstanding" due to a report "that Jamaat-Shibir activists" were "in the area." [3]
In February 2015, police allegedly beat Nazmul Huda Suman, the Dhaka University correspondent for New Age, and a companion, as they returned to the university from the newspaper's office. He alleged that he had photographed some police misconduct, and was promptly surrounded by 20-30 officers, and attacked—on site, in a police car, and at the police station. Friends later rushed him to a hospital where he was examined for head injury. [15] [16] [17] The incident sparked various public protests by political and cultural organizations. [16] The correspondent promptly sued 13 officers of the Ramna police, sparking a court-ordered police investigation. [17]
New Age blogger David Bergman (journalist) [18] has been a subject of particular controversy. Bergman is the husband of human rights lawyer and activist Sara Hossain, who is daughter of Bangladeshi politician & internationally acclaimed lawyer Kamal Hossain.
In 2014, the controversial [19] International Crimes Tribunal of Bangladesh ordered Bergman to pay a fine of approximately US$65, or serve a week in prison, for questioning the controversial, allegedly exaggerated, official historical record on the actual death toll in Bangladesh's 1971 War of Independence. The court's actions, essentially declaring that its judgments could not be the subject of journalistic inquiry, even after issued, met with international condemnation. [19] [20] [21]
Rapid Action Battalion is an anti-crime and anti-terrorism unit of the Bangladesh Police. This elite force consists of members of the Bangladesh Army, Navy, Air Force, Police, Border Guard, and the Bangladesh Ansar. It was formed on 26 March 2004 as RAT, and commenced operations on 14 April 2004.
Daily Janakantha is a Bengali daily newspaper published from Dhaka, Bangladesh. It is owned by Janakantha Shilpa Paribar (GJSP).
David Bergman is a British investigative journalist. Bergman has worked for Bangladeshi and British newspapers. He was first known in Bangladesh for his reporting on war crimes committed during the Bangladesh Liberation War. An investigative documentary on the subject he worked as a reporter and researcher for British television in 1995 won an award. Twenty years later, he was convicted of contempt of court by Bangladesh's special war crimes tribunal in 2015 for contradicting the official death toll of the war. Bergman has also contributed to The New York Times and Foreign Policy.
Hefazat-e-Islam Bangladesh is an Islamist advocacy group consisted mostly of religious teachers (Ulama) and students in Bangladesh. The group is mainly based on qawmi madrasas in Bangladesh. In 2013, they submitted a 13-point charter to the government of Bangladesh, which included the demand for the enactment of a blasphemy law. Under recent years, Hefazat has been formed into more of a moderate and anti-terrorist ideology due to success of Awami League in ensuring jobs and mobilising qawmi madrasa.
The Shapla Square protests, also known as the siege of Dhaka, Operation Shapla, Operation Flash Out by security forces, was the protests and subsequent shootings of 5 and 6 May 2013 at Shapla Square, located in the Motijheel district, the main financial area of Dhaka, Bangladesh. The protests were organized by the Islamist advocacy group, Hefazat-e Islam, who were demanding the enactment of a blasphemy law. The government responded to the protests by cracking down on the protesters using a combined force drawn from the police, Rapid Action Battalion and paramilitary Border Guard Bangladesh to drive the protesters out of Shapla Square.
The Dhaka Tribune is a major Bangladeshi English-language daily newspaper based in Dhaka, the country's capital and largest city. It also operates an online portal known as the Bangla Tribune. The newspaper has a strong readership in Bangladeshi cities, particularly among the young generation, the diplomatic community, and expatriates; as well as a wide readership in South Asia and internationally. The newspaper is notable for its highly diverse op-ed content, with contributions from leading Bangladeshi, South Asian and international columnists.
Bangladesh Pratidin is a Bengali-language independent daily newspaper in Bangladesh. It was founded on 15 March 2010. Bangladesh Pratidin tops the list of highest circulated dailies in the country out of 345 newspapers published from Dhaka and elsewhere, the information minister told parliament 10 March 2014. Abu Taher is the Acting Editor of Bangladesh Pratidin. Bangladesh Pratidin is a subsidiary of East West Media Group (EWMG), which is owned by Bashundhara Group. On behalf of EWMG, the publisher of the newspaper is Moynal Hossain Chowdhury.
Nadia Sharmeen is a Bangladeshi journalist. In 2015, she won the US State Department's International Women of Courage Award.
Naem Nizam is a Bangladeshi journalist, writer, columnist, and editor of daily Bangladesh Pratidin. Nizam is also the director of East West Media Group, the largest media conglomerate in Bangladesh. He is former CEO of News24 and Radio Capital. He is the former managing director of STV-US.
The Detective Branch is a specialized unit of the Bangladesh Police. It mostly deals with investigative activities and special operations in sensitive cases and places. The main task of the detectives of this unit is to collect the information behind the news from the grass root level for the purpose of investigating the events of any serious hidden crime or unsolved historical crime. Also, if necessary, they arrest important accused.
Sylhet Metropolitan Police or SMP was formed in 2009 to serve the city of Sylhet in north-eastern Bangladesh. It is the largest metropolitan police unit by area in Bangladesh.
Barisal Metropolitan Police or BMP was established in 2006 based on Barishal city to serve the metropolis. It was established by an ordinance of The Barisal Metropolitan Police Ordinance - 2006. Saiful Islam is the commissioner of Barisal Metropolitan Police.
DBC News, derived from "Dhaka Bangla", is a Bangladeshi Bengali-language satellite and cable news television channel, owned and operated by Dhaka Bangla Media & Communication Ltd. The founder of the channel was Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury. DBC News is headquartered in the Mohakhali neighbourhood of Dhaka.
A series of public protests in Bangladesh advocating improved road safety were held from 29 July to 10 August 2018. They were sparked by the deaths of two high-school students in Dhaka struck by a bus operated by an unlicensed driver who was racing to collect passengers. The incident impelled students to demand safer roads and stricter traffic laws, and the demonstrations rapidly spread throughout Bangladesh.
Shahidul Islam is a Bangladesh Nationalist Party politician and a two term member of parliament for Kushtia-2 from 1996 to 2006. He was known for filing cases and attacking journalists in Kushtia District.
The Digital Security Act, 2018, was a digital security law in Bangladesh. This act was passed with the aim of preventing the spread of racism; sectarianism; extremism; terrorist propaganda; and hatred against religious or ethnic minorities through social media, print media or any other electronic media. Any content over the internet or any other media that was deemed pornographic or otherwise inappropriate by the government could be punished by fines or prison terms of various lengths.
On April 17, 2021, Rozina Islam, a senior female reporter of the Bangladeshi daily Prothom Alo, went to the Health Ministry office in the Bangladesh Secretariat for COVID-19 related reporting. She was confined in the ministry for five hours and her cell phones were seized. She was allegedly harassed and assaulted during her detention at the secretariat. She was then arrested from the Ministry for alleged theft and taking photographs of sensitive state documents. Sibbir Ahmed Osmani, Deputy Secretary of the Health Services Division, filed a case against her around midnight of April 17, 2021 with Shahbagh police station under the Official Secrets Act. She was jailed in Dhaka Kashimpur Women's Central Jail amid widespread protests. A virtual hearing for her bail was held on May 20, 2021, later the court announced the decision would be delayed to May 23, 2021, and on that day she was granted a conditional bail after being imprisoned for 7 days.
Krishna Pada Roy is a retired additional inspector general of the Bangladesh Police and former commissioner of Chattogram Metropolitan Police. He is a former additional commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police.