Jump to content

Abdus Salam (businessman)

Add links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Abdus Salam was a Bangladeshi businessman and chairman of Ekushey Television (ETV). He took over the channel after former chairman, A. S. Mahmud, left the country in 2002 following the Bangladesh Nationalist Party government closing the channel. He faced persecution under the Awami League government and was forcefully removed from his television channel. He previously served as the managing director of ETV.[1]

Career

[edit]

Ekushey Television was forced to cease all broadcasts in August 2002 following a verdict from the Supreme Court that the license issued to the network was "illegal", after upholding the High Court's exact declaration and rejecting its appeal. The move to shut Ekushey Television down was protested by the RSF, and many people in Bangladesh gathered outside the court in solidarity with the network.[2] After Ekushey's closure, the founder of the network, A. S. Mahmud, left Bangladesh for England with his family and later died there on 22 January 2004.[3] On 14 April 2005, Ekushey Television, at the time under Salam's ownership, was granted a license to resume broadcasting using its previous facilities, after applying for it three months before,[4] but were only allowed to do so via satellite television.[5] Transmission resumed on 6 December 2006 and Salam blamed the previous government for the delayed transmission and denied Gias Al Mamun owned any shares of the channel.[6]

Salam stated that Ekushey was being a victim of a minister's "conspiracy" in 2012.[7] Ekushey Television was accused by the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission of broadcasting illegally without a radio equipment license in 2012 and frequency was withheld. Ekushey, however, denied the claims by stating that they have a radio equipment license and an updated frequency, and they were also regularly paying their frequency and license fees.[8] The National Board of Revenue filed a tax evasion case against Salam in which he secured bail in September.[9][10]

On 5 January 2015, Ekushey Television abruptly halted transmissions without any notice in most areas around Bangladesh after airing a speech by the senior vice chairman of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, Tarique Rahman. A sedition case was also filed, as Rahman's speech was said to be "false, fabricated and instigating", against Salam, Tarique Rahman, Mahathir Farooki Khan and Kanak Sarwar.[11][12][13] It was also reported that Ekushey moved away from being progressive and has been airing controversial news reports since 2010.[14] However, Ekushey's broadcasts overseas remained intact.[15] Salam, was subsequently arrested on 6 January in a case filed under the Pornography Act, 2012, as the network allegedly aired a false report on a girl in one of their programs, Ekusher Chokh.[16] Salam was detained by Detective Branch officers who drove him to jail in his own BMW car.[17] Following his arrest ETV fired four staff members over the speech by Tarique Rahman.[18][19] Former prime minister Khaleda Zia condemned his arrest.[20]

In March, he was denied bail by Justice Quamrul Islam Siddique and Justice Amir Hossain of the High Court Division.[21] In April, the Anti Corruption Commission filed a money laundering case against Salam, Chairman of ETV Ashraful Alam, and Senior Finance Manager Fazlur Rahman Shikder.[22] Later, the channel resumed broadcasting in some areas, and resumed nationwide broadcasts over time.[23] On 25 November 2015, a media release issued by the network that day stated that S. Alam Group of Industries had acquired Ekushey, in an auction on 8 October.[24][25][26] A former reporter of the channel, Kanak Sarwar, was also detained over the speech by the senior vice chairman of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, Tarique Rahman.[27]

On 26 January 2015, the Anti-Corruption Commission filed a case against Salam, along with two others, for allegedly laundering ৳2,670,000. Another case was filed against Salam on 2 March 2016, after an allegation that he made fraudulent documents of the satellite charge of Ekushey to swindle out ৳340,000,000.[28] Charges against him and the two others accused were finalized in March 2018.[29][30] Justice Obaidul Hassan and Justice S. M. Kuddus Zaman of the High Court Division squashed the money laundering case against him.[31]

Shortly after Sheikh Hasina's resignation following the non-cooperation movement on 5 August 2024, the former chairman Abdus Salam returned to the channel and took over.[32]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "ETV to telecast live stock trading". The Daily Star. 2007-12-14. Retrieved 2024-10-28.
  2. ^ "Government closes leading private television station after court withdraws licence". IFEX. 30 August 2002. Archived from the original on 16 July 2022. Retrieved 16 July 2022.
  3. ^ Dring, Simon (22 January 2014). "A.S. Mahmud: A man of vision remembered". The Daily Star. Archived from the original on 2 June 2022. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
  4. ^ "Ekushey Television re-launch faces uncertainty". BDNews24. 7 July 2005. Retrieved 4 August 2022.
  5. ^ "ETV gets fresh licence". The Daily Star. 13 April 2005. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
  6. ^ "ETV goes on air again after over 4 years". The Daily Star. 2 December 2006. Retrieved 2024-10-28.
  7. ^ "ETV a 'victim of minister's plot'". BDNews24. 15 March 2012. Archived from the original on 29 August 2024. Retrieved 14 August 2022.
  8. ^ "ETV refutes BTRC claim". The Daily Star. 13 March 2012. Archived from the original on 10 June 2022. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
  9. ^ "ETV chairman gets bail". The Daily Star. 2012-09-12. Retrieved 2024-10-28.
  10. ^ "ETV chairman, MD indicted". The Daily Star. 2012-06-08. Retrieved 2024-10-28.
  11. ^ "Why obstructions on ETV programme telecast: HC". The Daily Star. 25 February 2015. Archived from the original on 9 July 2017. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
  12. ^ "Tarique, ex-ETV chairman, 2 others charged with sedition". The Daily Star. 2016-09-07. Retrieved 2024-10-28.
  13. ^ "ETV boss gives statement to court". The Daily Star. 2015-01-20. Retrieved 2024-10-28.
  14. ^ একুশে টিভি সম্প্রচারে থাকলেও দর্শক দেখতে পাচ্ছেন না. Samakal (in Bengali). 8 January 2015. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  15. ^ একুশে টেলিভিশন দেখানো হচ্ছে না. Prothom Alo (in Bengali). 8 January 2015. Archived from the original on 3 June 2022. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
  16. ^ "ETV chairman sent to jail". Dhaka Tribune. 6 January 2015. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
  17. ^ Report, Star Online (2015-01-06). "ETV boss sent to jail". The Daily Star. Retrieved 2024-10-28.
  18. ^ "ETV chief reporter, three others fired 'for covering Tarique'". The Daily Star. 2015-01-16. Retrieved 2024-10-28.
  19. ^ "Ekushey TV chairman Salam arrested". Daily Sun. 6 January 2015. Retrieved 2024-10-28.
  20. ^ "Khaleda condemns arrest of ETV chairman". The Daily Star. 2015-01-06. Retrieved 2024-10-28.
  21. ^ "ETV chairman denied bail again". The Daily Star. 2015-03-23. Retrieved 2024-10-28.
  22. ^ Report, Star Online (2016-04-13). "Money laundering: ACC sues 3 including ex-ETV boss". The Daily Star. Retrieved 2024-10-28.
  23. ^ "ETV off air after airing Tarique's speech". The Daily Star. 6 January 2015. Archived from the original on 9 January 2015. Retrieved 24 August 2021.
  24. ^ নতুন মালিকানায় একুশে টেলিভিশন. BDNews24 (in Bengali). 25 November 2015. Archived from the original on 2 June 2022. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
  25. ^ একুশে টিভির নতুন মালিক এস আলম গ্রুপ. Jago News 24 (in Bengali). 25 November 2015. Archived from the original on 2 January 2023. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
  26. ^ "New owners again for Ekushey Television". BDNews24. 25 November 2015. Archived from the original on 2 January 2023. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
  27. ^ "Ex-ETV reporter Kanak remanded". The Daily Star. 2015-03-05. Retrieved 2024-10-28.
  28. ^ "Money laundering: ACC sues 3 including ex-ETV boss". The Daily Star. 13 April 2016. Archived from the original on 3 February 2023. Retrieved 23 August 2021.
  29. ^ Islam, Rafikul (5 March 2018). "ACC finalizes charge sheet against Ekushey TV chairman". Dhaka Tribune. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  30. ^ "ACC approves charges against Ekushey TV ex-chairman". The Daily Star. 6 March 2018. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  31. ^ "Ex-ETV chairman's money laundering case quashed -". The Daily Observer. Retrieved 2024-10-28.
  32. ^ একুশে টেলিভিশনে ফিরে এলেন চেয়ারম্যান ও সিইও আব্দুস সালাম. Ekushey Television (in Bengali). 5 August 2024. Archived from the original on 14 August 2024. Retrieved 14 August 2024.
Retrieved from "https://wiki.riteme.site/w/index.php?title=Abdus_Salam_(businessman)&oldid=1253936938"