Thu 26 Jan 2006
So far we haven’t really heard the story on what really was wrong with Ekushey TV. With new channels popping up everyday, it is a good time to revisit the issues on which ETV was closed down. Uttorshuri is currently working on a detailed scoop on this. The inside story will be here soon as it is on the final editing phase. Stay tuned.
January 26th, 2006 at 8:46 pm
This is great. I would love to hear the scoop. Not to mention that a lot of the staff and equipment of NTV is from ETV. I hope you guys can really unearth the truth.
January 29th, 2006 at 4:15 am
Am looking forward to the ’scoop’. Hope it details how exactly our ‘crown prince’ and his gang tried screweing the re-birth of ETV and how exactly they tried hijacking it. Is it g2 cover how ‘Channel 1′ came into operations? And suggestions for the next scoop : “Bangladesh Observer”.
January 30th, 2006 at 1:05 am
its great plasure for me i am giving comment anyway only for our bloody politician ETV could not rock still we are waiting for ETV.bcoz ETV was only channel it changed our media tradition great hopr for ETV
January 30th, 2006 at 3:39 am
Yes, we should not forget the ETV Episode. Mr Salam has revived a fine issue. The ETV issue once again has become relvant specially when some private channel devoid of any quality is getting license to broadcast, of late. I had written an article about judicial activism in Bangladesh where I touched the issue. For Drishtipat’s viewrs I reproduce the portion here.
The validity of commencing ETV was challenged in the notorious case of ETV Ltd. vs. Chowdhury Mahmud Hasan and Others (54 DLR AD 130)
This case is considered to be the most widely talked case which acquired public concern. The procedure of securing the license of ETV was questioned in a public interest litigation. It was alleged that the ETV was granted a license on preferential treatment by overriding the competent companies applying for that. Both the branch of the Supreme Court declared the license of ETV to be illegal and fake. Perhaps ETV is the only case which even reached the consideration of review petition, the last imaginable scope of obtaining remedy in the recent history of judicial pronouncement. It stirred up the public feelings leaving thousands of questions. It appears that the following questions did not get in- depth considerations-
1. The Higher Court has given its verdict in the public interest but it is not transparent what sorts of public interest have been safeguarded.
2. The Ministry of information was not implicated as a party which overcast mist on the proceedings.
3. Fate of hundreds of young and talented persons and of an institution that earned reputation as an independent, neutral and objective television media were put into uncertainty.
4. The time ETV started its broadcasting was critical one. Its news item appeared as a sigh of relief to the people specially when they were mentally depressed by the propaganda of the state-owned television and radio and when other private channels did not flourish so much. By closing down ETV episode people’s right to know has been badly hampered.
It is believed that ETV case was an ample opportunity before the Higher Court of Bangladesh to devise new doctrine of law and the court could have done this by applying Article 104 of the Constitution to do complete justice. One critique ( Columnist Ajoy Roy) emphatically observed:
“Our judiciary could not, rather did not feel nor appreciate this finer aspect of the issue. We only lamented and could not prevent the course of action. We lost our battle on the cultural and intellectual front; we lost on the legal front also”
The verdict of ETV case has left the pearl price question that is law devoid of human feelings and humanism? This made a way to comment, ETV freed the people from the clutches, torture and chain of government controlled BTV channel that once again put into jeopardy. The judgment has been the subject of sarcasm of the people by saying that an innocent baby is caused to death for its illegal birth.
January 30th, 2006 at 6:27 am
ETV’s loss, all the more because it was terrestrial and it reached the entire Bangladesh is a loss that has moved Bangladesh back a lot. It highlights a lot of things that is particularly wrong with Bangladesh today. Weak judicial system, obstacles to free enterprise, short term interest of the politicians, lack of independence of so called autonomous bodies like BTRC and lastly and most importantly social injustice for the general public of Bangladesh.
Masum Billah pointed out that the child was killed because of its illegal birth. As wrong as it is anyway, a lot of people don’t know that that the “child” was actually NOT illegal. I hope this new three part article can address this issue. But whose paying attention. Aren’t we just happy to vote for Nolok babu in NTV who employs most of the staff trained by ETV and reaping the benefit of ETV?
Tareqe Zia recently said in an ATN Bangla interview that we have to look who is the benfeciary of these suicide bombings to find out who is behind this. If we go about the same logic, the direct benefeciaries of the ETV closure is not the general public but the owners of NTV, RTV, channel 1 etc. and who are these owners? hmmmm……
January 30th, 2006 at 4:34 pm
What we hope comes out in this “scoop” is the truth behind the “crown prince” ( as Tasneem put it rightly)and his maneuverings with ETV. We want to know what transpired in Hawa Bhaban between Mr. Salam of ETV and the crown prince. Who made Mr. Salam’s estranged wife file a lawsuit?
What stake in ETV did Hawa Bhaban want? If needed, interview the Chairman of ETV ask him. We want the truth on this story.
January 31st, 2006 at 3:32 am
Don’t know enough about the Salam Saga but we’ll focus on the first chapter, pre-salam Mahmud-Dring saga. How it started and how it was brutally stopped.
January 31st, 2006 at 12:20 pm
If you want, I can try find out details on the salam-tarek saga. I can work on this post-salam episode. It’s like a drama.
February 1st, 2006 at 12:55 am
Check this out! Looks like our dear brother Syed Iskandar is also cooking a TV ch. This one “Islamic” though.
Muhib Khan is from Kishoreganj. After completion of Dawra-e-Hadith from Kishoreganj’s Qawmi madrassa he also passed SSC and HSC as a private examinee. He got both his Honours and Masters in Political Science from Mirpur Bangla College. At present Muhib Khan is working as a Programme Executive at the Islamic TV channel owned by Syed Iskandar MP. His father Ataur Rahman Khan was a BNP MP during 1991-96 from Kishoreganj-3. His elder brother Obaidur Rahman Khan works in the editorial section of Inqilab.
See my post on 2 Probe reports,
http://www.iwrnews.org/tasneem/archives/songs-of-jihad
February 1st, 2006 at 8:46 am
Sure Rubel. Anything that adds to it. The report I mentioned should be out today.