Satkhira DC faces allegations of misbehaviour, harassment of journalists

Serious allegations, including misbehaviour, ignoring phone calls, refusing to speak on camera, and frequently insulting working journalists, have been raised against Satkhira District Commissioner (DC) Kawsar Aziz.

The Satkhira Press Club executive committee today (14 August) strongly condemned the DC’s unprofessional, caustic and uncooperative conduct at an emergency meeting chaired by its President Abul Kashem.

Speaking at the meeting, Satkhira Press Club literature, culture and sports secretary and Jamuna Television staff reporter Akramul Islam detailed an incident from yesterday (13 August), saying that Abdul Alim, an accused in a murder case, had escaped during the attack on Satkhira Jail on 5 August 2024.

“Alim was later named accused No 51 in a separate case over the prison break and, while absconding, filed a land-related case at the Kalaroa Upazila Land Office on 24 August 2025, reportedly pursuing it in absentia through financial inducements,”

Akramul said. Akramul visited the Kalaroa Land Office on Wednesday (12 August) to report on the matter, but after the upazila assistant commissioner (land) declined to speak on camera, he went to the DC’s office the following morning (13 August), where he met the DC after waiting for three hours. When asked how a fugitive murder suspect was pursuing a case at a land office, the DC reportedly became enraged, refused to speak on camera and chastised the reporter over a previous corruption investigation, allegedly to shield the land official. At one point, the DC arrogantly threatened to see how the journalist would retain his job at Jamuna TV.

Furthermore, Additional District Magistrate Abul Hashem and several assistant commissioners present in the room forced camera operator Earul Islam to submit his camera for inspection to check if the DC’s unprofessional conduct had been recorded.

During the meeting, Press Club General Secretary and district correspondent for Bangla Vision and BSS, Asaduzzaman, raised another incident.

He noted that on 29 July, NDC Tajul Islam conducted drives at two clinics near the Sadar Hospital intersection and imposed fines for operating without renewed licences. When contacted, the NDC declined to provide details, saying such news did not need to be published, and instead asked the journalist to visit his office to “see his face.”

When Asaduzzaman met the DC the following day alongside senior journalists to discuss the matter, the DC verbally reprimanded the journalists instead. Press Club Joint General Secretary M Belal Hossain, who represents DBC News, stated that when he phoned the DC regarding news updates, the official lost his temper upon learning his identity as a journalist.

“The DC abruptly hung up after asserting that giving statements to journalists was not his job. My TV’s Satkhira representative, Faizul Huq Babu, alongside other working journalists in the district, faced similar ill-treatment,” he said.

Satkhira Press Club President Abul Kashem said that local journalists had never faced such non-cooperation from any previous district commissioner while covering issues concerning the district’s public interest and development.

He noted that in critical situations, previous officials were accessible for statements late at night, even from the DC bungalow.

“The district commissioner is a representative of the state. Good governance and accountability are key electoral commitments of the present government. Such conduct from the Satkhira DC is neither desirable nor acceptable. We strongly condemn and protest these actions,” Kashem said.

Earlier, on 5 August, during a relief distribution event for the families of martyrs and the injured from the July Mass Uprising, several political leaders and officials walked out. District Council Administrator Habibul Islam Habib, District BNP Convener Rahmatullah Palash, and District Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Shahidul Islam Mukul left the venue after the DC omitted political leaders and the district council administrator from the main stage platform.

Confirming the incident, Satkhira BNP Convener Rahmatullah Palash said, “As no one was invited to the stage, we all walked out under the leadership of District Council Administrator Habibul Islam Habib.”