Dainik Dinkal is a

daily newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as poli ...

published in the

Bengali language Bengali, also known by its endonym and exonym, endonym Bangla (, , ), is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language belonging to the Indo-Iranian languages, Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family. ...

. The newspaper is also known as the mouthpiece of the

Bangladesh Nationalist Party The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (), popularly abbreviated as BNP (), is a major List of political parties in Bangladesh, political party in Bangladesh. It was founded on 1 September 1978 by President of Bangladesh, President Ziaur Rahman, wit ...

(BNP) and is published from

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; , ), List of renamed places in Bangladesh, formerly known as Dacca, is the capital city, capital and list of cities and towns in Bangladesh, largest city of Bangladesh. It is one of the list of largest cities, largest and list o ...

. On February 19, 2023, the

Bangladesh Press Council Bangladesh Press Council () is an quasi-judicial institution that protects freedom of speech and regulates the press in Bangladesh and is located in Segunbagicha, Dhaka, Bangladesh. History The act to establish the institution was passed in 1974 ...

announced the closure of the publication of the newspaper. However later on 11 August 2024, the publication of the newspaper was approved.

History

Dainik Dinkal was first published in 1986, edited by Sanaulah Nuri and published by Majedur Rahman. Later on April 16, 2002, Tarek Rahman, the chairman of the BNP, took over the responsibility of the publisher and printer of the newspaper. Currently, Rezwana Siddiqui is the responsible editor of the newspaper.

Announcement of closure

On December 26, 2022, the office of Dainik Dinkal was ordered to be invalidated by the publication branch of the Dhaka District Magistrate. According to the office order, without assigning responsibility to the newspaper publisher, the office address and printing press were relocated outside the country, and the newspaper was prosecuted in a criminal case. Tarek Rahman's name was used to issue a press release for printing the newspaper, and the address and printing press were changed without the permission of the authorities. As a result, the announcement of the newspaper's publication was suspended. On February 19, 2023, the

announced the closure of the publication of the newspaper.

Reaction to publication closure

* On February 20, 2023, Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists (BFUJ) and Dhaka Union of Journalists (DUJ) staged a protest against the banning of publication of daily Dinkal. Besides, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir strongly condemned the closure of the newspaper in a statement. * On February 20, 2023, Stephen Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, expressed concern at the regular briefing of the United Nations. * On February 21, 2023, the

Committee to Protect Journalists The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in New York City, with correspondents around the world. CPJ promotes press freedom and defends the rights of journalists. The '' American Journalism ...

issued a statement on its website calling for the closure of the daily Dinkal citing "a violation of democratic principles". * On February 24, 2023, a total of 9 countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Media Freedom Coalition (MFC) based in Bangladesh expressed concern over the cancellation of publication and printing approval. * On 26 February 2023, the Dhaka Journalist Union (DUJ) organized a rally to protest against the cancellation of the declaration. A section of Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists (BFUJ) participated in it.

References

{{reflist 1986 establishments in Bangladesh Newspapers established in 1986 Newspapers published in Dhaka Mass media in Dhaka Bengali-language newspapers Newspapers published in Bangladesh Censorship in Bangladesh History of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party Bengali-language newspapers published in Bangladesh