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 - 

We all want freedom of the press, but not the kind that was afforded to your friends in the past 15 years, not one that incites and legitimizes human rights violations.

The same thing he does in this post - against Arun Devnath. He also made a similar post against Channel I, albeit jokingly. 

I have no problem with his facebook post, attacking the views of others. I have a problem with dragging the freedom of press (and speech) into the discussion. 

There are always allegations of media bias against any news media organization. Fox News always faces the allegation that it promotes conservative views. New York Times faces allegations that it soft-peddled US’s actions abroad. Al Jazeera (Saer’s employer) faces allegations that it promotes a Islamic narrative (and some people in Bangladesh did not like tis coverage of the trails of the war Jamati leaders). But I can’t recall anyone bring press freedom while making such allegations. People in the west say they don’t like the coverage of certain issues, but they don’t bring press freedom into the discussion. They do not bring it for good reason - when you bring up the issue in the same line alleging that someone is writing something you do not like, you imply that you are supporting to curtail the press freedom of that person. And this would be a slippery slope people do not want to touch.  

Now, if I write an op-ed saying that I was better under the previous BAL government compared to the current interim government, should my right to publish that op-ed be limited or should I go to jail? Furthermore, is supporting a mafia government by writing op-ed a crime? If you do not like what I am writing, you should write a better piece and then get it published somewhere. But you cannot and should not curtail the freedom of press and speech unless it’s endanger people’s lives. And the views published by Charlotte Jacquemart and Arun Devnath fall within that category. 

By dragging freedom of speech, I guess, Saer is suggesting that freedom of speech and press be limited to ‘facts’ and certain people, whose narrative Saer is not liking. Now, let’s talk about the ‘narrative’ Saer is promoting.  

Saer called Abdullahil Amaan Azmi (the son of Golam Azam) “sir’, Zinnah an important leader of Bangladesh. He promoted a conspiracy theory of Elias Hossain and shared  a report by New Age on Joy alleging that Joy was involved in criminal activities, but that report does not link or provide any comment from the FBI, violating the basic principle of journalism. He admonished Prothom Alo for publishing a news article against BNP leader Salahuddin Ahmed, because he did not like the coverage, even though the reporting was based on facts. He allowed Major Zia to share his version of events , without ever fact checking or asking any critical question, then called it an ‘interview’. He published lots of inside information from the army, but he is silent on the allegation of the army’s role in trying to establish a new party by the students or its patronising of jamat. 

I found him to be ant BAL and pro Jamat. Now, these are my views of Saer’s narrative and I may or may not like them. But does it mean that I should bring press freedom while discussing Saer’s post and indicate that his right to freedom of press and speech be limited?     

Unfortunately, the view expressed by Saer is common among Bangladeshi people. They want to hear what they want and suppress other’s voices. When they cannot express what they like, they demand freedom of press and speech, but when they hear what they do not like, they cry misuse of freedom of speech and press. Even journalists hold this tendency.