Religious affairs ministry explains blocking of female journo at event

Terming the incident of a female journalist being barred from media coverage of an event attended by Adviser AFM Khalid Hossain condemnable, the religious affairs ministry, however, said the adviser was only a guest.

Highlighting a Facebook post, titled "Women Journalists Blocked from Media Coverage of Religious Adviser's Programme", the ministry said as a guest, the adviser was not responsible for what the organising authority did.

Yesterday, Amy Jannat, a reporter from United News of Bangladesh (UNB), expressed her frustration on Facebook about not being allowed to attend the "Online Entrepreneur Qawmi Uddokta" event held at the China Friendship International Conference Centre in the capital's Agargaon.

The post sparked widespread criticism online and led to different posts on the issue.

In this regard, the religious affairs ministry also said, "It is in no way reasonable or acceptable to blame the guest invited to the event for such an incident. Such a post is purely intentional."

It said the religious adviser has been assisting journalists in fulfilling their professional duties, with many long interviews given.

"He or his office has never imposed any restrictions on any journalist. The religious adviser and his ministry will continue to assist journalists in fulfilling their professional duties in the future."