Sharifa Begum Sheuli: A social service case has been filed against 19 people for violating government orders, obstructing state work, breaking the lock, occupying the club’s office, and detaining government employees. Due to administrative irregularities, the expelled members of the Rangpur Press Club, along with outsiders and terrorists, conducted a membership induction process through a ballot on Wednesday afternoon (January 22) around 4 pm. At that time, they tore up the notice of the Department of Social Services. The leaders of the Anti-Discrimination Journalist Movement and the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement have strongly condemned and protested this incident.
It is worth noting that the Department of Social Services has dismissed the executive committee of the Rangpur Press Club after the investigation revealed financial corruption and administrative irregularities in the management of the press club. For a long time, 32 members of the press club in a five-story building under construction on government-allocated land have been hiding and concealing the approved policy to prevent professional journalists working in Rangpur from becoming members of the club to cover up their irregularities and corruption. More than 200 professional journalists in Rangpur, including the Anti-Discrimination Journalists’ Movement, have made such allegations. They have blocked the path of professional journalists to become members by showing various rules and regulations. The investigation has revealed that the Rangpur Press Club is a registered organization and organization approved by the Department of Social Services as an organization.
Sub-section (a) of Section 2: Full-time journalists working in Rangpur, employed by all national daily newspapers and news agencies working in Rangpur, who demonstrate loyalty to the club’s constitution, can become general members.
(b) Editors of daily and weekly newspapers published from Rangpur can become members ex officio.
(c) Full-time journalists working in Rangpur city of daily and weekly newspapers published from Rangpur can become general members. The editors of the newspapers will nominate the concerned journalists.
(d) If any general member of the Press Club has been engaged in the profession of journalism for a continuous period of time, he may, if he so desires, continue to be a general member even after the closure of the employing newspaper.
Sub-sections A, B, C and D of Section 5 state that one must be interested in becoming a member, have documents related to the newspaper’s appointment, and have a minimum appointment period of more than 6 months.
But for a long time, the Press Club has ignored these rules and regulations and imposed various rules and regulations against all the provisions of the constitution, blocking the way to become a member of the club. The Department of Social Services approved the registration on July 14, 1991, under Ordinance 46 of the Rangpur Registration Act, 1961.
The approved constitution does not say anywhere that the relevant newspaper must have been in publication for one year, that each local newspaper can have 4 members, that the editors of the local newspaper must apply in writing and become members through voting, that they must be permanent residents of Rangpur, that the educational qualification to become a member of the club must be a graduate, that the final voter list must be prepared after sorting and selecting members, that they must then seek votes from their general members and after receiving 60 percent of their votes, they can become members.
In this context, the leaders of the anti-discrimination journalist movement complained to various departments related to social services and senior government officials about 6 months ago. In the wake of that complaint, the DG’s office of the Department of Social Services formed an investigation committee. The investigation report of that committee proved the financial corruption and irregularities of the Press Club. After this, on January 15, 2025, the Department of Social Services dismissed the executive committee of the Press Club and formed an interim supervisory committee of 4 members.
The four-member supervisory committee includes the Director, Divisional Social Services Office, Rangpur as convener, members – Additional Director, Divisional Social Services Office, Rangpur, Deputy Director, Divisional Social Services Office, Rangpur, Social Services Officer, City Social Services Office, Rangpur.
Rangpur Press Club is a registered organization under the Department of Social Services in 1991. Therefore, its activities should have been ongoing as per the rules and regulations of the Registration Act. But without any regard to that, the activities were being conducted by imposing rules as per the wishes of the club.
This matter has been confirmed in a letter signed by Md. Saidur Rahman Khan, Director General of the Department of Social Services, on Wednesday, January 15, 2025.
The letter signed by the Director General of the Department of Social Services states that a few months ago, the Press Club Rangpur (Registration No. Rangpur/359/91) sent two separate committees to the Deputy Director Social Services office for approval. When the matter was sent to the Department of Social Services, a Deputy Director of the organization was given the responsibility of investigating.
Then, in a systematic manner, the officials in charge of the divisional office of the Department of Social Services started the process of formally taking over the responsibility of the Rangpur Press Club on January 19, 2025 in the presence of the police and magistrate. Upon learning of the matter, 32 members of the Press Club locked the door of the club and fled by noon. On the same day, on the afternoon of January 19, 2025, in the presence of about a hundred professional journalists in Rangpur, including the police and magistrate, leaders of the Anti-Discrimination Journalists’ Movement, and the government directive papers were placed on the door and locked the door and took control of the club. Along with this, two guards from the Department of Social Services were deployed there. After locking the door, the expelled journalists threatened in various ways that they would break the lock and accept members through secret ballot. When tension arose among the journalists of Rangpur over this, the district administration and social services also deployed round-the-clock police guards.
After this, on 22 January ’25, members of the illegal committee of the Press Club, along with some outsiders, broke the lock given by the administration, tore down the notice, illegally entered the club and celebrated in front of numerous witnesses including social services and administration. They conducted illegal activities.
Journalists and conscious circles from all walks of life in Rangpur are surprised, angry and shocked by the malicious attempt made by the expelled members of the Rangpur Press Club to challenge the current government’s order.
In this regard, senior journalist Liaquat Ali Badal, member secretary of the Rangpur Sammilit Jangid Samaj, said that all journalists in Rangpur have appreciated the interim government’s decision regarding the Rangpur Press Club. If the government’s decision is implemented, the Rangpur Press Club will be a meeting place for professional journalists working in Rangpur.
Incidentally, this group has been keeping the Press Club of Rangpur under its wing for a long time with a handful of journalists and non-journalists. After the July movement, the journalists who were victims of discrimination started a movement to achieve their rights. When the movement started, several journalists were harassed and subjected to multiple lawsuits due to the anger of the non-journalists of the Press Club. These non-journalists even disrupted the information advisor’s opinion exchange meeting at the Rangpur Circuit House. Taking all these situations into account, Arifur Rahman, an officer of the Rangpur city branch of the Department of Social Services, identified 19 people and filed a case with the Kotwali police station of Metro on January night against 8/10 unknown people. It is worth noting that the Rangpur district administration has now joined the Social Services Supervisory Member Committee. The anti-discrimination journalist students, movement and other conscious people believe that they will intervene appropriately to implement the government’s instructions without delay. He strongly demanded that the accused in the cases filed for obstructing the work of the government be arrested and brought to exemplary punishment.
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