Two newspapers, Bangladesh Pratidin and Kaler Kontho and an online news portal Banglanews24.com published reports on Tuesday stating that Sampadak Parishad's General Secretary Naem Nizam has resigned in protest against the President Mahfuz Anam's "unethical" activities.
All three reports that published the exact same text -- citing an anonymous source -- claimed that Anam was engaging in personal attacks against the owners of some of the member newspapers of the Parishad. Nizam is the Editor of Bangladesh Pratidin.
In response, Mahfuz Anam issued a statement today.
"I am shocked and saddened by the news of Naem Nizam's resignation from the position of General Secretary of Sampadak Parishad about which he informed me yesterday night over the phone from New York, but I am yet to receive his resignation letter," said the statement.
"I will consult with members of the Parishad to formulate our response. However, it may be mentioned that the policy of the Parishad has always been to operate on the basis of consensus and there has not been a single occasion otherwise," it added.
The statement concluded by saying, "I would like to emphasise here that I had a wonderful working relationship with him and we never had any difference of opinion in running the organisation."
