Dainik Dinkal halts publication

The publication of Dainik Dinkal, a Bangla-language broadsheet, has been suspended from Monday (20 February), reports Al Jazeera.

The newspaper on Monday said the Dhaka district authorities had ordered the shutdown on December 26, but it continued to publish after filing an appeal at the Press Council headed by a top high court judge.

"The council rejected our appeal yesterday [on Sunday], upholding the district magistrate's order to stop our publication," said Shamsur Rahman Shimul Biswas, managing editor of the newspaper.

The order said the printing permit of the newspaper was cancelled after it violated the country's printing and publication laws, reports Al Jazeera quoting AFP news agency. 

The council said the paper's publisher, Tarique Rahman – the acting chief of BNP – was a convicted criminal and was living abroad without handing over his job to another person.

Biswas said Rahman, now based in London, submitted his resignation and appointed a new publisher, but the authorities did not accept the changes.

The government on Monday did not comment on the shutdown.