Controversial Photos in Bangladeshi Newspapers
In a country which is ranked 151 th in the media freedom index, the newspapers are often questioned for their editorial choices and representation of a situations. Some time they are highly politicized and sometimes are very controversial in the socioeconomic aspect. Here are some photos with such controversy which have published on the leading national news dailies in Bangladesh.
- Doinik Prothom alo’s (Daily first light) coverage of 5th January 2014 election in Bangladesh:
Prothom alo is one of the most popular and sometimes most reliable newspaper in Bangladesh where press doesn’t have much freedom according to media freedom index. Prothom alo’s coverage and editorial decision was vastly criticized when the newspaper used these photos. In the photos Prothom alo showed only women who are from Hindu religious belief wearing sindur (red powder, symbolizes hindu religious belief) on their forehead lining up to cast vote. Which is believed to be photoshoped (Video analysis link) . As there is an allegation that the current government is “friendlier” towards hindu minority community in Bangladesh, Prothom alo showing only people of a particular religion in the front page was vastly criticized.
2. Prothom alo’s Photoshop controversy:
The photo on the left is from an Indian daily news paper (ananza bazar) and the photo on the right was published in Prothom alo. It’s believed that Prothom alo added the “teep” and “sindur” on the lady’s forehead which can cause religious violence. Prothom alo denied at first that they edited the photo but, a day after when anandabazar published the photo on the left, Prothom alo removed the photo from their online publication. You can read more on this (in Bangla): https://komashisha.com/?p=12199
3. Nusrat Jahan Rafi; a madrasa student’s photo:
Nusrat Jahan Rafi had been a student at the Sonagazi Senior Fazil Madrasa (Islamic schooling system) when she complained of being harassed by Siraj ud-Daula, a teacher of the madrasa she went to study, on 27 March. After she first went to the police to report the sexual harassment a video was leaked showing a police chief registering her complaint but dismissing it as “not a big deal”. Later a group of four unidentified persons poured kerosene on the 18-year-old girl and set her afire on April 6 allegedly for refusing to withdraw a case against the principal of Sonagazi Islamia Senior Fazil Madrasa over sexual assault on her late last month. Nusrat lost her battle for life, five days after she was set ablaze at a madrasa in Feni — an incident that touched off outrage all over the country.
All the news paper in the country and abroad used this photo on their reports. Many religious extremists or just common people in in patriarchal society blamed Nusrat for the incident for this photo published in the newspaper where she, being a madrasa student wearing red lipstick and makeup.
4. “Jaal Para Basanti” (Basanti wearing a fishing net):
In 1974, Bangladesh witnessed a massive famine mostly because of gross mismanagement by the government. Almost every household across the country was affected by the famine. Tens of thousands of hungry and emaciated people roam around looking for food. Every day the newspapers published photos of famine-affected hungry and dying people then. According to an estimate by the government, the famine killed at least 30,000 people in Bangladesh.
Photojournalist Aftab Ahmed took the photo of “Jaal Para Basanti” then. This photo was published on the front page of the Dainik Ittefaq newspaper. This iconic photo became the face of the famine in Bangladesh across the world then.
The photo showed Basanti, a young woman, somehow attempted to cover herself using a fishing net, while she moved around on a banana raft and collected eatable parts of the banana plant. Durgati Rani, another famine-affected woman was controlling the movement of the raft on the floodwater, with the help of a bamboo pole. The photo reflected the poverty and hunger that ravaged Bangladesh during that famine. The photo caused embarrassment for Mujib government internationally. The state authorities issued a statement then that the photo was circulated by some vested party in a conspiracy to embarrass Sheikh Mujib and his government.
Some believe this photo played a big role behind the killing of Bongoondhu Sheikh Mujib (the father of the bangladeshi nation) in 1975.
The photographer of the photo was killed in 2013 at his house.
5. Policemen attacked; vehicles torched; 3 different photos in three different newspapers:
Three law enforcers were brutally assaulted, an innocent man was killed, and at least 17 vehicles were torched and many more vandalized across the country on the first day of the nonstop blockade by the BNP-led alliance. These photos of the same event was published in three leading newspapers in Bangladesh on 7 January 2015; Daily kaler kantha; the dailystar and Prothom alo. All of them clamed that the photo was taken by their photographer with different narrative behind each cover of the story.
6. Who is this Hercules:
On February 2019, there was a series of photos for a month about an unknown serial killer named himself as Hercules who killed a number of alighted rapists across the country and left notes saying. “I am the rapist of ______ and my name is _____, this is the faith of a rapist. Be aware rapists. — Hercules”. Some believe the killer is the police and trying to justify extrajudicial killings of the rapists.
