BNP today accused the government of controlling the media through a "secret policy" to gag the journalists critical of the authorities.  

"The government has established its control over the media houses directly and indirectly. It decides who will attend the talk shows," said BNP spokesperson Asaduzzaman Ripon at a press conference at the party's Nayapaltan headquarters.

The government has been suppressing the media houses that are critical of the authorities, he added.

Ripon criticised the Information and Communication Act, saying it is nothing but an instrument to control the social and other media.

The BNP leader blamed Information Minister Hasanul Haq Inu for such a situation, saying the oppression has increased manifold since Inu took office as information minister.

Asaduzzaman Ripon said though The Daily Star and Prothom Alo have not complained, as a reader he found decline in advertisements of many multinational companies in the two newspapers in recent days.

Besides, the dailies are getting less number of advertisements of government offices, said Ripon, adding that the government wants to control the media by restricting advertisements of the private companies.        

The BNP spokesperson demanded formation of an independent judicial commission to probe Friday's police firing on demonstrations at Tangail's Kalihati that left four people dead.

"Police members have not been appointed to kill people. We don't want to see people being killed by police. Police cannot open fire on people as per the rules and regulation of the force," Ripon said.

He demanded compensation for the victims.