BNP does not want education, development: Inu
The Jatiya Sangsad on Thursday passed Bangladesh Film and Television Institute Bill, 2013 following a heated debate between Information Minister Hasanul Haque Inu who introduced the bill and the opposition BNP lawmakers. The bill aims at establishing Bangladesh Film and Television Institute for providing degree and technical training as well as conducting various research activities in film and television programmes in the country and producing skilled and efficient artistes and producers.
Earlier, several law makers from opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) spoke on the bill and requested the Speaker to circulate it for eliciting public opinion. But before the bill was put to vote for circulation seeking opinion from the people on it, the BNP lawmakers staged a brief walkout. Their request for circulation of the bill was voted down.
Then the lone independent Parliament Member of the House Fazlul Azim and BNP lawmakers AM Mahbub Uddin Khokon, Jafrul Islam Chowdhury and Harunur Rashid spoke on various amendments they brought to the bill. But Information Minister Hasanul Haque Inu rejected all of their amendments describing them as “totally unnecessary.”
Defending the bill, the information minister said the Bangladesh Film and Television Institute would be better than even the Pune Film Institute in India. It would not only provide diploma but also graduate and post-graduate degrees in film and television programmes, he said adding that the students would be enrolled only on merit basis, not under any political consideration.
Inu said the proposed institute would be first of its kind in the country and it would go a long way in producing highly skilled people for the media as well as fine actors and actress for the film industry. There will be curriculum for various courses and necessary rules and regulations exactly like the famous universities and colleges of the country.
In response to the criticism from the opposition BNP lawmakers, the information minister asked them to look at how freely different privately owned newspapers and television channels of the country are operating in Bangladesh. “But the freedom of the press does not mean that you will publish or broadcast whatever you like — even hurting the religious sentiment of the people,” he added.
Referring to the shutting down of Diganta and Islamic TV and Amar Desh newspaper, Hasanul Haque said those media outlets have been closed down temporarily as they broadcast and published untrue and misleading information creating disturbance in the country. Currently 27 television channels are operating in the country and only three of them are under the control of the government, he said.
The information minister told the House that the opposition BNP does not want economic development and advancement of education. It only wants anarchy, killings and disturbance in the country. BNP could not form government by itself from 1991 till date, Inu said and urged opposition leader Khaleda Zia to stay away from the forces of fanaticism or give up politics forever.
-With The Independent input
