Dr Mohammad Didare Alam Muhsin
Rozina Islam is a senior reporter for the country’s leading daily Prothom Alo. She has been doing journalism with a reputation for a long time. The main area of her work has been investigative journalism. For her journalism she has been granted many awards over the years in the country and abroad. Among them are Canadian Awards for Excellence in Bangladeshi Journalism (2011), UNESCO Award (2011), ‘Media Award on Corruption Prevention Bangladesh’ — an award created by Germany-based GIZ and Deutsche Welle Akademie as the result of a joint initiative of DU’s Mass Communication and Journalism Department, ACC and PIB (2014), TIB’s Investigative Journalism Award (2015), Dhaka Reporters Unity’s ‘DRU Best Reporting Award (2017).
In recent times, Rozina has published several investigative reports in Prothom Alo on irregularities and corruption in the health department, which have caused a stir across the country. These reports include among others, স্বাস্থ্যমন্ত্রী অফিস করেন না (Health Minister does not attend his office, June 25, 2020), ‘এখন এক কোটি দেব, পরে আরও পাবেন’ (‘I will give one crore now, get more later’, April 12, 2021), টিকার মজুত ১৫ মের মধ্যে ফুরিয়ে যাবে (Vaccine stock will run out by May 15, April 23, 2021), উৎপাদনের নয়, রাশিয়ার সঙ্গে চুক্তিটি গোপনীয়তার (The agreement with Russia is about confidentiality, not production, April 25, 2021), কিটের ঘাটতি নিয়ে দুই রকম তথ্য (Conflicting info on shortage of kit, April 29, 2021), ৩৫০ কোটি টাকার জরুরি কেনাকাটায় অনিয়ম (Irregularities in the emergency purchase of Tk 350 crore, April 30, 2021).
Journalism is a very challenging profession. Journalists act as a mirror of society. They use their pens and cameras to illustrate for commoners the good and bad of society. You need talent to do that and also may have to bear many physical and mental stresses. On the one hand, they have to be vigilant in fulfilling the expectations of the common people, while on the other hand, they often have to face the wrath of vested interests in revealing the truth. Journalists not only reflect the current state of society, but also play an important role in shaping public opinion. That is why people from all walks of life, from ordinary to extraordinary — have a special appreciation for them. They are booed by general public, if their role appears to be compromising. On the other hand, if a report goes against vested interests, which often happens, they have to come under multifarious pressures. It can be mental or physical and may range from torture and imprisonment to even threat on life. On the contrary, stepping on the path of compromise can open the door to endless comfort and enjoyment.
Journalists work in different ways in different fields. Some may cover current events on the ground, some may analyze the data obtained and make analytical reports on various aspects of society based on it, while others may uncover hidden events through special investigations. Different cases have different types of challenges. Journalists are familiar with all this and gradually become accustomed to the area in which they work. The key challenge of investigative journalism is to establish direct or indirect connection with the source of the incident in order to bring out the information concerned. For this, journalists have to adopt various techniques. Obviously, it is not always easy. Here you have to exercise intelligence, you have to take risks, you have to get the cooperation of someone on the spot. However, it is this difficult task that investigative journalists accomplish with great skill and bring out a lot of hidden facts for the public.
Maybe journalist Rozina Islam went to the Ministry of Health the other day to get some such information. Maybe she got the intended information, too. But somewhere there may have been a rhythmic fall. That is how she got into an argument with an additional secretary in the ministry. Allegedly, she was ‘stealing’ sensitive state information, which has been seized. On the other hand, her relatives and well-wishers denied the allegations and countered that she had been physically and mentally harassed while performing her professional duties. At one point she was handed over to the police and a case was filed against her over the incident. As the prosecution sought remand after she had been produced before the court, the honorable judge denied it and directed to send her to jail.
The incident caused a great stir in the country. There was a strong reaction among the country’s journalist community, intellectuals, and people from all walks of life. Journalists all over the country started a movement against this. There has been a storm of protest on social media. The incident quickly spread abroad beyond the borders of the country. The news made headlines in the international media. The international human rights group, Amnesty International, have called for her immediate release. Concerns have even been raised by the UN Secretary-General’s Office. Thus, the whole thing has turned into an image issue for the country.
The question is, what could have been the very confidential information that journalist Rozina Islam tried to ‘steal’ that day — the disclosure of which could have brought about a great loss to the country? Allegedly, she was trying to get documents on recently signed agreements with Russia and China on the vaccine. One thing that deserves special consideration here is whether the investigative reports that she has so far made on various issues, including the health sector, have proved to be detrimental to the country. Prothom Alo has claimed that the government has rather taken some corrective steps based on her previously published reports. There is no doubt that she had to ‘steal’ such information before as well in making these reports. Why only Rozina Islam, is there any journalist who does not need to ‘steal’ such information to make an investigative report? Evidently, this is nothing new. How reasonable is it to consider such information gathering for investigative journalism as ‘theft’? However, yes, if the allegation of taking pictures from a file without permission and trying to remove a file is true, then it is a different story. If something like this happened in a protected area like the Secretariat, it would surely have been caught on CCTV. Has any such footage been disclosed so far?
In every critical moment including the liberation war, the journalist community of this country has played an important role in creating public opinion. Certainly, a party formed from the grassroots level like the Awami League does understand the issue better than anybody else. The relationship of the journalist community with the present government is also quite friendly. A notable example of this is the grant of Taka 10 crore by the Hon’ble Prime Minister for the assistance of journalists across the country during this second wave of COVID-19 pandemic. A number of important government ministers, including Obaidul Quader, have assured of their efforts to ensure justice for Rozina Islam. Does not this mean that the political leadership wants to handle the matter softly? The question is, does holding Rozina Islam for more than five hours as alleged by her relatives and well-wishers, filing a case against her for ‘stealing’ information and handing her over to the police signify that message? If the concerned authorities wanted, could not they have settled the matter with the journalists in the secretariat? Or is it that a quarter is trying to create a distance between the government and the journalist community to cover up their irregularities and corruption?
As the government has been talking about zero tolerance against corruption, independent and investigative journalism can play an important role here. In this connection, the role of the journalist community before in exposing various sensational corruptions can be recalled. Worryingly, the Rozina Islam incident is creating an image crisis for the government on the one hand and may discourage journalists from investigative journalism on the other. It will not bring any welfare to the government or the society in the end, it will only bring a big break for the corrupt.
The incident is extremely sensitive. Failure to handle it sensibly may give rise to multidimensional problems. So, it is important to reveal the real truth as soon as possible through a transparent and credible investigation and take necessary action accordingly. Otherwise, only the future can tell where the water flows.
The Writer is Professor of Pharmacy, Jahangirnagar University
