Any attack on press is a threat to democracy: president

President Abdul Hamid said the government believes in press freedom and any attack on the press is also a threat to democracy and that the journalists must fight evil forces concertedly.

He said this while addressing as the chief guest of a programme on The Daily Star’s 25th anniversary at the Osmani Auditorium in the capital on Friday.

The president also called upon the newspapers to exercise the freedom of the press responsibly to bring welfare for the people and the country.

Terming newspapers the mirror of a country, Hamid said free flow of information and freedom of expression was important for the proper development of mass media.

Underscoring the importance of newspapers, the president said during the Pakistan period, newspapers courageously stood against the oppression and discrimination against the Bangali people by the West Pakistani ruling cliques.