DHAKA, March 28, 2023 (BSS) - Eminent citizens and Bangabandhu Sangskritik Jote today protested bad-journalism instigating a child by offering money to make comments on the Independence and National Day.

On the Independence and National Day, a photojournalist of the daily Prothom Alo gave a kid Taka 10 asking him to comment saying, "We will have the freedom of availing fish, meat and rice", which goes against the ethics of journalism and is a shameless example of using a child for political purposes.

The child himself later told journalists that the Prothom Alo journalist asked him to say this in exchange of Taka 10 and he told it, said a statement of Sangskritik Jote today.

This true speech of the child and withdrawal of the Prothom Alo news item 17 minutes after its release established the fact that a child was used offering money for political purposes to make the government embarrassed, which was a punishable crime.

The eminent citizens and Sangskritik Jote condemned the false news prepared luring a child in exchange of money and demanded punishment of those involved in the incident.

Signatories to the statement included Tarana Halim, Bulbul Mahlanbish, heroic freedom fighters Bichhu Jalal and Joynal Abedin, Bir Protik, Ruhul Amin Majumder and Ahsanul Haque Minu, Kurigram Agricultural University vice-chancellor Prof Dr Zakir Hossain, Rabindra University vice-chancellor Prof Dr Shah Azam, Maulana Bhasani Science and Technology University vice-chancellor Prof Dr Md Forhad Hossain, Jashore University of Science and Technology vice-chancellor Prof Dr Md Anwar Hossain, singer Shubra Dev, actors Shaju Khadem and Mir Sabbir and cultural activists Tusher Khan and Punam Priom.