In yet another disturbing attack on press freedom in Bangladesh, a senior journalist was beaten up inside the office of BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia in Dhaka’s Gulshan area on Sunday afternoon. The incident has sparked anger among journalists and raised serious concerns about the safety of media workers ahead of the upcoming national elections.
According to eyewitnesses, the attack took place around 4:30 p.m. when Jahidul Islam, a reporter from the daily Amar Desh, was recording video interviews of nomination aspirants from the Sylhet division at the BNP office. Several staff members of the office allegedly dragged him away, assaulted him, and snatched away his mobile phone and press card.
Narrating his ordeal, Jahidul Islam said, “I was recording when three to four people suddenly pulled me aside. They broke my mobile phone and took my press card. I even offered to delete the video if recording was not allowed, but they didn’t listen. They beat me and pushed me out of the office.” 
Eyewitnesses said that during the commotion, other journalists — including Khalid Hossain of Jago News, Sajjad of The Daily Star, and Asim Al Imran of Naya Diganta — were also harassed and prevented from doing their jobs.
Jahidul added that the situation at the office was already chaotic. “Some candidates were being allowed to enter while others were stopped. There was shouting and confusion. I was standing outside and recording the situation. One man asked me to stop recording, and I did. Then another came, grabbed me by the collar, dragged me inside, and called me a fake journalist. They broke my phone and kept hitting me with punches and kicks before throwing me out onto the main road,” he said.
