Reporter Selim Zahid

loses job for reporting on corruption of Jamaat leader

Jobless and under threat, reporter Selim Zahid seeks justice

A PROBE report

Selim Zahid, senior reporter of the daily Jugantor, has lost his job for reporting on the corruption of Comilla's Jamaat leader Rezaul Karim. Now only that, he faces regular threats from cronies of the powerful Rezaul Karim. Having won several awards throughout his career, Selim Zahid now faces a life of insecurity.

There are numerous allegations of corruption, including misappropriation of money and extortion, against Rezaul Karim. He is Assistant Secretary General of Comilla North district unit of Jamaat-e-Islami. He is also a former MP candidate. Over the past few years Rezaul Karim has robbed people from Laksham, Chauddagram, Nangalkote and various places in Chandpur, of lacs and lacs of taka, in the name of sending them abroad. He also exploited people in the name of making them partners in the Kanon Resort along the Dhaka-Chittagong highway and as well as in import-export and clearing-forwarding businesses. He was caught when trying to take a five crore taka loan from the Uttara branch of Shahjalal Bank, using forged documents. His creditors even approached the central Amir of Jamaat for justice, but to no avail. There money was not returned.

Selim Zahid, in investigating this matter, came across a lot of incriminating documents. On April 6 this year, he spoke to that Jamaat leader about the allegations of corruption and that's when the trouble began. On April 7, a close relative of Rezaul Karim at the Chittagong cantonment called Selim Zahid and warned him of dire consequences if he published the report. Then on April 8 another influential person issued a threat. Despite all these threats, the report was published in Jugantor in April 9. This enraged Rezaul Karim and his people. That very day he sent in a rejoinder and demanded that Selim Zahid pay him 50 thousand taka for damages. Surprisingly, the Jugantor authorities published the rejoinder word for word, without the reporter's comments. The influential quarters close to Rezaul Karim asked the newspaper authorities to take disciplinary action against Selim Zahid. As for the paper's authorities, they decided to side with those quarters rather than their own reporter and send him on leave. Nonplussed, he stopped attending office.

After that, a letter of dismissal was sent from the Acting Editor of Jugantor to Selim's home address. No reason for his dismissal was given and Selim was shocked and aggrieved at having been sacked in such an ignominious manner from his newspaper. In the meantime, he continued receiving threats from Rezaul Karim's people. He is virtually in hiding.

Jamaat policymakers were informed of the matter. They had initially remained silent but are now finally taking some action. The Comilla district committee of the party has made inquiries into the allegations of corruption against Rezaul Karim. His position as rokon has been suspended. Jamaat Amir Moulana Matiur Rahman Nizami tells PROBE, "Our party does not have provision to suspend anyone immediately if any allegations are brought against him. We received complaints against Rezaul Karim and inquiries have been carried out. Once the inquiry report is finalised, a decision will be taken. If the allegations prove true, action will certainly be taken."

An inquiry, headed by leader of Comilla Jamaat, has been carried out regarding Rezaul Karim. The inquiry has reveals that Rezaul Karim has cheated various people of a total of 65 lac taka. However, district Jamaat Amir Abdus Sattar is lobbying in favour of Rezaul Karim, according to sources in Jamaat's central body.

Journalist Selim informs PROBE that on April 10 he filed a GD with the Motijheel police station after receiving threats over the telephone (GD 668). The influential quarters called the police station too and the OC kept the GD away in his locker.

Selim says he has been working for a decade with various newspapers including Ajker Kagoj, Inqilab, Samakal and Jugantor. In 2003 he received the Manik Miah Award for journalism and the TIB award in 2005. He says, "Even my worst enemy would never question my integrity. The present government and the army have declared war on corruption. As a journalist, I too have been writing against corruption. Yet now, because of this, my career and my life are at stake. I don't know what crime I have committed!"

He continues, "My senior knew about the report all along and they are the ones who published it, yet know they are shirking their responsibility. A month has passed and the newspaper authorities haven't even bothered to inquire about me. They haven't even paid my dues."

A senior reporter of Jugantor, on condition of anonymity, says, "Selim is not the type to blackmail anyone. His report had enough supporting evidence. Actually, the newspaper's owner himself is a black money holder and on the list of corrupt persons. He was even in jail. Honesty has no value to a corrupt person and Selim Zahid was simply sacrificed in the newspaper proprietor's interests."

Selim has written about the matter to the Chief Advisor and the Army Chief, seeking justice. The question is whether a journalist of integrity will have to bow down to corrupt quarters. This jobless journalist awaits the reply to this question from the Chief Advisor and the Army Chief.