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Saer is one of the few Bangladeshi journalists who has a wikipedia page. He is a journalist for Aljazeera and several western media outlets have published his pieces. So, he has credentials which are unparalleled among Bangladeshi journalists. Since he is working for Aljazeera, an established news outlet, you would have thought that he is a journalist who maintains professionalism when he publishes anything anywhere. But one troubling aspect of the journalism of Saer is that he just publishes his reports without either seeking comment from the accused/the person affected by the reports or failing to mention that he sought comments from those people. 

1 # So the government has identified people who laundered more than 200 crore. The question I have is why they are fixated on 200 crore? How did they make the decision that they would not go below 200 crore? How come 200 crore becomes the magic figure? My guess is that the government decided not to go below 200 crore as if they decided to go below, there were chances that certain government officials would be exposed as money launderers. And lots of current government officials would get caught and they certainly do not want that to happen. 

1 # Advisor Asif Mahmud Sajeeb Bhuiyan went to a police station and got a person, who was arrested, released from police custody. The person’s name is Arman Ali who was arrested during a rally of Hizb ut-Tahrir. I have seen a number of people clapping to this incident and they are cheering Asif for this. Is this something good for the country? The simple answer is no. Complex answer is hell no. Asif just intervened in the administration of justice and abused his power as an advisor and a student leader for the SAD movement. You may say Arman Ali is a innocent person. I don’t have any comment on that. He may have been a innocent person, but at the end of the day he was in police custody and police should have take the decision whether to release him or charge him as it is their duty to decide. By intervening Asif just created a bad example.

Recently, Shafiqul Alam, Press Secretary to the Chief Advisor of the interim government, posted a picture on Facebook of himself throwing dirt into a dustbin featuring a portrait of Sheikh Hasina at the Bangla Academy on the first day of the Ekushey Book Fair. His post faces some criticism from a number of people. One of the people criticising the post is Anu Mohammad, the environmentalist and activist. Now, you may find it difficult to fathom why, of all people, Anu Mohammad would criticize the post. After all, he was constantly criticizing the Hasina government during the last BAL administration and was a thorn in the side of the BAL government. 

Saer is a Bangladeshi journalist working for Al Jazeera. His role during the July uprising is beyond commendable. He inside information via his facebook page informed people at a time when information was scarce. But his stance on press freedom and accusation of setting narrative raise the question - what kind of press freedom and freedom of speech does Saer believe? Recently, Charlotte Jacquemart, a Senior Business Editor for Swiss Public Radio, Switzerland, published an op-ed in the Dhaka Tribune. In the op-ed she questioned the imprisonment of a number of journalists in Bangladesh. Saer attacked the op-ed and Ms. Jacquemart in a facebook post - 𝐌𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐚 𝐅𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐨𝐦: 𝐋𝐢𝐞𝐬, 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐚, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐀𝐦𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐚. In the post one of his comments is - 

The leaders of the Students Against Discrimination Movement (SADM) recently started a campaign for a proclamation (July proclamation). It was a recent demand/discussion as previously there was no discussion on this. All of a sudden, the leaders of the SADM started to make the demand for the proclamation at the end of December 2024. I was surprised at their demand. The recent activities of the leaders of the SADM is not inspiring and rather disappointing and it has already started to feel like they are acting like autocrats themselves. Now, on the proclamation, in the world, there are a number of proclamations or declarations that have huge implications for world or the people for whom the proclamations was declared. Usually there proclamations marked the start of an era, changes which have put is mark on the history of the world.

Khaleda Zia went to UK for treatment and meeting her son. She went there on an Air Ambulance provided by Qatar Government and for this, the Qatar Government did not take any penny. Basically it was a gift. In Bangladeshi politics, lots of people see this a favorable things for Zia – that a foreign government allow her to use their facilities without any cost. Almost all newspaper and media cover the story. But no one asked the question of the propriety of the Zia’s decision to accept the ambulance without paying for it (at least I have not seen any discussion on this). Is this a proper and right decision?

Recently BNP leader Khaleda Zia attended the Armed Forces Day reception at Senakunja in Dhaka Cantonment. In the program, she was received very warmly by the Chief Advisor Dr. Younus and others. After the July uprising, such warm treatment of her made me feel a poignant sadness. Did we forget history too fast? Did the BAL government made us forget all of our history this fast? Lets check the history briefly. She was prime minister for two times and in both cases, she refused to leave the government and hold a free and fair election. In her first term, people were forced to take a street and force her down. In her second term, her action (through her president) forced the army to take power and install a caretaker government. In her second term, opposition leaders were attacked, bombed, and killed. 21 August grenade attacks happened under her government and they later try to hold a false enquiry to derail the investigation. 

Let me ask you a question - in your view, who is the most qualified and democratic president of Bangladesh? If you already know the names of all presidents, then you may already know. But if you don’t, just take a look at the list and then see whom you find the most democratic president of Bangladesh. I can tell you by far the name you will find just one name - Justice Shahabuddin Ahmed. His independence and adherence to democratic norms is by far the most among all presidents in Bangladesh. In the list, rest of the presidents are either partisan or did not leave any mark on the democratic process of Bangladesh. He was trusted by all parties to form the first caretaker government of Bangladesh and under his presidency, the country saw the first ever free and fair election in Bangladesh. I do not think you will find any critics of him, except for certain minor issues. 

Recently, the current interim government of Bangladesh appointed Advocate Tajul Islam as the Chief Prosecutor for the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT), despite his previous role in defending several Jamaat-e-Islami leaders in cases before the tribunal. His appointment has raised eyebrows, although few have openly objected. This decision raises both judicial and political concerns. It seems the government has failed to learn from the mistakes of the previous administration and their public relations blunders. In fact, the appointment feels like a gift to the very regime the people just deposed. The Awami League (AL) government previously mishandled the war crimes tribunal process by making controversial decisions, including certain appointments. Although the people of Bangladesh may feel they received the justice they deserved, the process itself was fraught with controversy, for which the AL government was largely responsible. Now, the interim government seems poised to repeat those same mistakes by appointing Tajul Islam, a figure closely associated with defending those accused of war crimes, as the chief prosecutor.