By Rajesh Ghimire

“I am underground in Dhaka. I need help.”
I was torn between blocking a message on WhatsApp that seemed like a phishing attempt when another message arrived: “I am Manik.”
It was Bangladeshi investigative journalist Zulfikar Ali Manik, a Nepal lover and a friend of this writer for many years.

In Bangladesh, press freedom is under a grave threat. Investigative journalist Zulfikar Ali Manik, known for exposing Islamic fundamentalism, has gone underground in Dhaka to escape persecution. Once in regular contact, Manik had disappeared for months before finally reaching out for help. His situation reflects the broader crackdown on journalists following the 2024 “revolution” led by Nobel laureate Dr. Muhammad Yunus.

Over the past year, the Yunus-led government has launched unprecedented repression against the media. Journalists have been arrested, forced into exile, or driven underground. Newsrooms have been raided, licenses revoked, and publications shut down in a systematic effort to silence free speech. International observers, like Swiss journalist Charlotte Jacquemart, have sounded alarms about these abuses, yet the repression continues.

More than 300 journalists have been falsely accused of crimes such as corruption and murder. Among them are Shakeel Ahmed and Farzana Rupa, who were arrested while attempting to flee Bangladesh. They now face serious charges without evidence and are barred from seeing their minor daughter. The government’s methods also include revoking press credentials, freezing journalists’ bank accounts, and imposing travel bans. So far, 167 journalists have lost their press cards, and 27 have been expelled from the National Press Club.

Women journalists have faced even harsher treatment, enduring sexual harassment, mob attacks, and violent threats. Liberal newspapers such as Pratham Alo and The Daily Star have been targeted by radical mobs. On one occasion, protesters slaughtered a cow outside Pratham Alo‘s office, accusing it of being “pro-India.” These attacks are part of a broader campaign by Islamic fundamentalists to destroy secularism and democracy in Bangladesh.

Dr. Yunus has publicly acknowledged that many of the charges against journalists are “unfair” and “hasty” but has failed to take corrective action. His press advisor, Nahid Islam, has called journalists “fascists” and threatened a review of their past work to punish them for “fascist narratives.”

Michael Rubin of the American Enterprise Institute criticized Yunus, arguing that his Nobel Peace Prize should not shield him from accountability for press repression and human rights abuses.

Historically, journalists in Bangladesh have operated under constant threat, but they have never given up. This current wave of oppression, however, seeks to eradicate journalism altogether, using Islamic fundamentalism as a tool. Manik had warned about this trend as early as 2019, noting how extremists were trying to radicalize the youth by altering education and removing secular influences from textbooks.

The rise of radicalism is affecting daily life. Public spaces are increasingly unsafe for women, and democratic freedoms are rapidly shrinking. The repression in Bangladesh serves as a warning to countries like Nepal, where right-wing influences are also attacking democratic institutions and the free press.

Organizations like Reporters Without Borders and the Committee to Protect Journalists have condemned the situation, but stronger global solidarity is needed. Supporting journalists like Manik, Ahmed, and Rupa is crucial—not just for Bangladesh, but for the broader fight to protect democracy, secularism, and freedom of expression across South Asia.

Who is Manik?

Mr. Julfikar Ali Manik is a Bangladeshi journalist based in the capital, Dhaka. A professional journalist since 1990, he has always worked as a reporter with a passion for investigative journalism. In addition to working for Bangla- and English-language national dailies, news weeklies, television, and radio networks in Bangladesh, he has regularly reported for The New York Times since 2004 as a stringer.

Over the years, Manik has also freelanced for several international newspapers and TV channels, including American PBS, British Channel 4, Al-Jazeera English, Netherlands NOS, The Mail on Sunday (UK), and Outlook India.

Julfikar Ali Manik has received several professional awards. In 2017, he, along with three other New York Times journalists, won the SOPA Award for extensive reporting on the Dhaka bakery attack that killed 22 people, including 17 foreign nationals. The SOPA Award is one of Asia’s most prestigious journalism awards, administered by the Journalism & Media Studies Centre at the University of Hong Kong. In 2014, he, along with two other New York Times journalists, won the prestigious Gerald Loeb Award. In May 2013, he won the Sidney Award along with The New York Times journalists for extensive and in-depth coverage of the collapse of the Rana Plaza garment factory near Dhaka. He was the Dart Asia Pacific Fellow in 2013.

Manik also won the UNESCO-Bangladesh Journalism Award in 2009, the Bangladesh Press Institute (PIB) Award in 2001, and Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) Awards in 2001, 2009, and 2014, among several other national journalism awards.

Julfikar Ali Manik has authored two books: the first investigates disappearances and killings during the 1971 Liberation War of Bangladesh; the second focuses on the farcical military trial after the killing of Bangladesh’s first military ruler in 1981. He graduated in Management from the University of Dhaka.

Throughout his nearly three-decade-long reporting career, Manik has covered diverse issues ranging from politics, Islamic militancy and terrorism, religious intolerance, the Rohingya crisis, corruption, war crimes, the military, legal affairs, and issues affecting ethnic and marginalized communities.

A versatile writer and speaker on contemporary socio-political issues, in recent years Manik has participated as a resource person at several international conferences and forums, speaking on investigative journalism, media, communication, the right to information, freedom of expression, and human rights. A well-known figure in Bangladesh’s broadcast media, Manik is also involved in training and capacity-building programs for journalists across the country.

 

(Mr. Ghimire is a freelance journalist and the Vice-Chair of Freedom Forum.)