Fact-based reporting enables govt to act effectively: State Minister Iqbal

GOURIPUR, MYMENSINGH, July 28: State Minister for Disaster Management and Relief Engineer M. Iqbal Hossain has urged journalists to ensure objective reporting, saying fact-based news enables the government to take appropriate and timely action.

"Please don't publish everything exactly as you hear it. When news is reported objectively, the government can take the right course of action," he said while addressing the inauguration ceremony of the construction of the second floor of the Gouripur  Press Club building on Monday evening.

Speaking as the chief guest, the state minister said journalists often bring issues to light that remain unnoticed by others.

"There are many things we do not see ourselves, but journalists show them to us," he said. "Journalists are the eyes of the government as well as politicians. If a report is objective, we can also take the correct steps."

Recalling a recent example, he said a news report had claimed that 90 percent of the people in a particular area had not received relief assistance.

"After reading that report, I immediately forwarded it to five deputy commissioners. Following the publication of the news, prompt action was taken there," he said.

"If you continue to produce objective reports like this, we will be able to take the right action at the right time," he added.

The programme was chaired by Gouripur  Press Club Vice-President Kamal Sarkar and moderated by its General Secretary Rakibul Islam Rakib.

Among those who addressed the event were former convener of the Gouripur  Press Club Md Rais Uddin, former president Kazi Abdullah Al-Amin, and club member Kamal Uddin.

Others present included Professor Enayet Ullah Kalam, Convener of Mymensingh North district BNP; Motahar Hossain Talukdar, Joint Convener of the district BNP and chairman of the Mymensingh Development Authority; Upazila Nirbahi Officer Afia Amin Pappa; Advocate Nurul Haque, President of the Mymensingh District Bar Association; Habibul Islam Khan Shahid, acting convener of Gouripur  upazila BNP; Acting Member Secretary Abdur Rahman Babul; Joint Convener Advocate Abdus Sobhan Sultan; Ramzan Hossain Khan Jewel, member secretary of the municipal BNP; Tanzin Chowdhury Lili, President of the Mymensingh North district Mohila Dal; and Nuruzzaman Sohel, President of the district unit of Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal, among others.