***Control and manipulation of the state-owned radio and television are not new phenomena in Bangladesh. In fact, the process started long ago during the British Rqj, when the radio was used extensively and quite effectively for war propaganda.***

THE question posed in the title of the article is not a rhetorical one. I ask the question In sadness and frustration. It seems to summarise the nation s failures In different fields of life. In a moment of crisis in our national life, we Instinctively turn on the BBC or VOA or ABC but never do we think of turning to the Bangladesh Television or Radio Bangladesh for accurate and objective information on what is really happening in the country We do not trust these national agencies.

The now-discredited one-party electioh on 15 February was an occasion when people in all walks of life wanted to get an objective picture of the political scene. Did the voters turn up at the polling centres? Was there the usual stuffing of the ballot boxes by the ruling party? Did the presiding officers turn up at the centres to perform their duty?.What was the public response to the opposition's call for the boycott? unfortunately, the official news media, owned and operated by the government with the money of taxpayers, failed to provide reliable information on any of these points. It is a matter of profound regret that both the Radio Bangladesh and the BTV have totally lost their credibility. Begum Khaleda Zia and the BNP party are fully responsible for the current sad state of our official news media.

Control and manipulation of

the State-owned radio and television are not new phenomena in Bangladesh. In fact, the process started long ago during the British Rai. when the radio was used extensively and quite effectively for war propaganda. During the Pakistani period, these media were not only used to bolster the regime that happened to be In power; Gen Ayub Khan went -a step further by creating the Pakistan Press Trust to publish state-owned newspapers. These newspapers are still being published though their circulation has fallen so low that they virtually run on taxpayer's money. Thus the desire of the rulers to control and manipulate the news media in their interest has been a fact of life in this country for a long time.

However, the people are fed up with this practice. They resent such gross abuse of their money by the government. They are no longer prepared to foot the bill for agencies such as the TV and Radio when these media are blatantly used for propaganda purposes and not for objective and unbiased dissemination of national and international news.

Public opinion on this Issue crystallised during the nation-Wide agitation against the autocratic regime of Gen Ershad.

In the charter oi demands prepared by the leaders -of the different political parties and their alliances, the control and management of the state-owned news media figured prominently. These demands had strong grassroots support. When the political blueprint for the future was finally drafted by the three major al Hances, the autonomy, of the

state-owned radio and television was included as a major demand of the nation. "Die demand was that the radio and television as well as the state-owned newspapers should be Eilaced in the care of au-onomous bodies, somewhat along the lines of BBC. In order to release them from the stranglehold of the party in power. The BNP was a party to this charter of demands. It was a solemn pledge given to the nation by the three alliances. People in all walks of life were Jubilant when Ershad fell and one of the causes of Jubilation was that at last they would be

able to watch Bangladesh Television or listen to the national radio for correct and objective news.

Unfortunately, they were rudely disappointed almost from the beginning of the BNP rule. There were no changes in radio or television. In fact, these powerful media were turned Into propaganda vehicles for Begum Zia and her

party The nation was si locked to see that Begum Zia had followed even exceeded Ershad in her abuse of the BTV and the radio. People began to turn off the television when the news time came because they were fed up with seeing the same faces day in and day out. Whether there was any newsworthy event or not. some sort of report on Begum Zia seemed to be obligatory. The ministers, the Joke went, were the only ones to watch the BTV during news time because they loved to see their own pictures on the television screen. As far as the state-

owned newspapers, these were turned into mere propa-Knda sheets of the BNP and

atlng the BNP drum was their only Job.

What is remarkable about the whole issue is that Begum Zia has broken her pledge to the nation without providing any explanation. She has broken many pledges during her five years in office but this one the whole nation has noted very carefully because everyone (all television viewers and radio listeners) have a strong interest ln seeing change on this Issue. They do not want to continue to suffer the indignity of depending on foreign news agencies for truthful news about their own country. Begum Zia and the BNP government have let them down. A former BNP information minister. well-known for crude and blunt talk, boasted that since they were an elected government they would run the state-owned news media as they wished and no one should question this right. Despite extremely loyal service the minister eventually lost his Job for an act of disobedience but nothing changed under his successor. Gross abuse of the taxpayer's money for the glorification of the party and its leader has continued.

The farcical exercise on 15

February is unworthy of being called an election because not more than two to five per cent of the real voters cast their votes and the legal requirements of a proper election were not fulfilled. The demand for declaring it null and void is reaching a crescendo. There is. therefore, no doubt that new elections will have to be held very soon to put the nation back on track. Otherwise we will plunge into uncertainty. instability and even breakdown of law and order. As the nation goes into the preparations for a new general election, the question of the control and management of the officially-owned and operated news media must once again be brought into national focus. We must build up a national consensus on this issue.

The shame of having to turn on the BBC or the CNN whenever the nation reaches a crossroads is unacceptable to the nation. All the political parties must pledge that regardless of Who wins and forms the government, the official news media will no longer be used for party of personal propaganda. I sincerely hope that civic bodies, professional-'groups and others active in public life will join hands to make it one of the foremost national demands. Freedom of the news media, in the broadest sense of the term, is an indispensable condition for the successful functioning of a democratic political system.