& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

No directives given on blocking news sites

Says information minister

Staff Correspondent
Information Minister Hasanul Haq Inu has denied the allegation of recently giving directives to block any newspaper website or online news portal.
About blocking the websites of The Daily Star and bdnews24.com, the minister said his ministry and he himself did not give any such directive to Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC).
In an interview with BBC Bangla, Inu on Monday said he was investigating the issue.
"We are seeking explanations from the BTRC why it did so (blocking the websites]. No directives were sent from my ministry."
Since the night of June 1, The Daily Star's website had been blocked for around 18 hours as per instructions from BTRC after the news about the killing of Teknaf municipality councillor Ekramul Haque was published on the website on that day under the headline "Murder it was".
On June 18, the telecom regulator blocked three websites of bdnews24.com, an online news portal, for around four hours as per directives from the "higher authorities".
Inu claimed that the government had no policy on restricting or blocking any mass media -- newspaper or online news portal.
"We are not shutting down anything and have not done so. Some small problems had occurred here or some problems were there on our way. But those are not part of our government's policy," he said.
Asked whether the BTRC took any
suggestions about blocking the website, the minister replied in the negative.
"My responsibility is to look into the issue and I have already started it. We are also investigating why such a problem occurred."
He also said the government would soon formulate a "broadcast act” and form a "broadcast commission" to make sure that no such problem occurs in future.
After blocking The Daily Star website, BTRC officials refused to talk on record about the issue.
However, the newspaper through an investigation found that the BTRC sent a letter to the International Internet Gateways (IIGs) on June 2, saying: "As decided by the commission, you were directed to block the following URL: www.thedailystar.net/frontpage/murd er-it-was-1584580."
"But if it is not possible to block the specific URL then you are not directed to block the domain at your IIGs," it said.