Press Club of India, Sapan, Editors Guild call for media freedom, stop violence
- Independent Ink
- Dec 25, 2025
- 3 min read
“It is disturbing to hear that more than 100 journalists in Bangladesh have been detained and remain behind bars without trial. We demand their immediate and unconditional release...”
By Regina Johnson/Sapan News
Media organisations and individuals from around Southasia and the world have come together in solidarity with journalists in Bangladesh who faced mob violence and arson in the aftermath of the assassination of a popular student leader.
The attacks on the media began on 18 December after the killing of Sharif Osman Hadi, with protestors setting fire to the offices of Prothom Alo and the Daily Star in Dhaka.
A statement issued 22 Dec by the Southasia Peace Action Network, Sapan News, the South Asia Media Defenders Network (SAMDEN), and the Rural Journalists’ Network of Pakistan, against the recent attacks on media organizations and reporters in Bangladesh – and earlier, Nepal – terms such violence as a direct assault on press freedom and democratic values.
“It is disturbing to hear that more than 100 journalists in Bangladesh have been detained and remain behind bars without trial. We demand their immediate and unconditional release,” according to the press release, which follows statements from the Press Club of India and the Karachi Press Club similarly expressing deep concern and strong condemnation of the violence. The Editor's Guild of India too has issued a strong stratement, including on the attack against the president of its Editors Council.
Around 40 media professionals and concerned individuals have endorsed the statement, online here.
The fact that several prominent journalists in India have endorsed the statement is a particularly powerful show of solidarity given the popular rhetoric and narrative about tensions between India and Bangladesh.
Concerns about press freedom are clearly a shared commitment that transcends borders.
This is also evident in the fact that the statement has been published in various media in Pakistan as well, including in Urdu.
The Editors Guild of India also subsequently issued a press release, noting that “The assault on the Editor of New Age and Editors’ Council President Nurul Kabir, and the mob attacks on the offices of the widely circulated Bangla daily Prothom Alo, and leading English-language publication Daily Star, in particular, mark a serious and deadly escalation in the ongoing cycle of violence against and intimidation of the media in Bangladesh,” notes the Editors Guild of India in a 23 December press release.
The Guild called on the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government in Bangladesh to “immediately ensure the physical safety and well-being of journalists, and for quick action against those that committed the violence”.
The Human Rights Watch condemned not only the violence against journalists and the media but the attack on cultural organizations like Chhayanaut which was vandalized and set on fire.
It “signals a broader pattern of hostility toward cultural institutions and practitioners, revealing an increasingly unsafe environment for artistic expression and diversity of opinion,” says the international non-governmental organization statement.
The unified voices of Southasian media groups and other organizations reinforce the idea that assaults on journalists threaten democracy and civic discourse.
There appears to be a consensus across the region that violence is unacceptable.
Regina Johnson is coordinating editor, Sapan News. She has extensively reported on America’s energy policy at S&P Global, Washington, D.C. She has written articles for LATINA Style Magazine, Advisors Magazine, Inkstick Media, and Thrive Magazine. Email: regina@sapannews.com
This is a Sapan News syndicated feature, available for republication with due credit, along with a link, and a canonical of the Sapan News webpage must be added at the backend.
Why ‘Southasia’ as one word? Because our histories entangle, our struggles intersect, and our futures are bound together. It is not just a spelling choice, it’s a political and poetic one.
Hyperlinks
Statement issued - https://southasiapeace.com/2025/12/22/south-asia-media-groups-express-solidarity-with-journalists-condemn-attacks-on-bangladesh-and-nepal-media-demand-accountability/
Southasia Peace - http://www.southasiapeace.com
Earlier Nepal - https://sapannews.com/2025/09/14/regime-change-and-restoring-normalcy-in-nepal-after-a-week-of-violence-arson-and-killings/
Statement online - https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdQEbfjIQ_0qfwun2Ul-L7-qUC_4bL5RC40j_ZMAllLXeRhKA/viewform
Including in Urdu - https://dailynaps.com.pk/south-asia-media-groups-express-solidarity-with-journalists-condemn-attacks-on-bangladesh-and-nepal-media-demand-accountability/
Vandalized - https://www.tbsnews.net/bangladesh/crime/police-arrest-suspect-chhayanaut-arson-and-vandalism-case-1317526