The New Nation - Internet Edition

The journalists, press workers and general employees of The Bangladesh Observer and the Weekly Chitrali in a general meeting held at the news section of the daily on Sunday, reiterated their resentment over the intransigence of the owners to pay the long outstanding dues and wages of the employees that lingers the management-employees crisis in the country's oldest Prime English daily.

The meeting unanimously also decided that the journalists, workers and employees of The Bangladesh Observer and the Weekly Chitrali will observe token hunger strike on November 5 from 10 a.m. to 5 pm. at Observer House to press home their long outstanding demands, says a press release.

Presided over by Md. Ashraf Ali, Bangladesh Observer Unit Chief of Dhaka Union of Journalists' (DUJ) and News Editor of The Bangladesh Observer, the meeting was addressed among others by the Editor of The Bangladesh Observer, Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury, Belayet Hossain, Solimuddin Selim, Press and General unions Presidents respectively Pranayan Khisha, Nazrul Islam, Zahirul Huq, A. T. M. Solaiman, Shahjahan Mozumder (News Editor), Md. Obaidul Hoque, Azizul Haque, Delwar Hossain, Md. Nurul Islam, Tarun Tapan Chakrabarty, Khalilur Rahman and Mobarak Hossain.

Speakers urged the government to compel the owners to pay the legal dues and wages of the journalists, workers and employees of The Bangladesh Observer who are now passing their days in great distress, without further delay.

A 27-member Action Committee was also formed unanimously in the joint meeting with Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury as Convenor and Md. Ashraf Ali, Unit Chief of Observer Unit of DUJ, Belayet Hossain, President Press Workers Union and Salimuddin, Selim. President, Employees Union as Joint Conveners.