The exposure of "confessional statements" by AL and BNP stalwarts and some business tycoons of the country in the electronic and print media have perturbed the minds of some people in different ways.

Some of the country's key political figures and businessmen have made confessional statements, as reported in most of the media, during the interrogation by the Task Force Intelligence (TFI) cell.

If the information from these confessional statements regarding the two apex leaders of the country tallies exactly with the reality, then we have very strong grounds for describing them as "mafia dons."

Already, due to wide publication of these "confessional statements," the perceptions of some quarters towards these two leaders have been started to change, despite the glorious roles they played during the movement against the autocratic regime of General Ershad.

In this context, Dr. Kamal Hossain's recent repentance, and his apology to the nation for keeping close association with Sheikh Hasina and the AL, can be cited. Perhaps influenced by the published stories based on the confessional statements, the editor of the highest circulated Bangla daily has advocated for the implementation of the so called "minus-two theory," suggesting the removal of incumbent chiefs of the two major parties.

Now, as regards the publishing of these so-called confessional statements, an ethical question may be raised. So far, the media publishing the interrogation transcripts have not mentioned their sources of information. Mysteriously, the media people received the interrogation transcripts of some AL leaders in audio CDs from an unknown source.

Apart from this, the reports on interrogation of BNP leaders and other businessmen have been published in the media without disclosure of any source. In this context, it may be argued that the leaders or business tycoons concerned are under government custody, so the reports must have come from a source in the government as no journalist was present during the secret sessions of the interrogation.

But it has been learnt that the concerned authorities of the government have straightforwardly denied providing the media with any information regarding those interrogations in TFI cell, or giving out CDs.

Then what is the source of such reports? Unless the reliability of the source is ascertained, these so-called confessional statements can be taken to be mere gossip. As conscious citizens of the country we know that, for honesty while publishing reports in the media, authenticity of the source is a must.

Besides, before publishing such reports the media should have cross-checked with the concerned parties to confirm their authenticity. Now the question is, to what extent are the majority of our media maintaining these ethics of journalism in publishing such reports on sensitive national issues?

Are the media hundred percent sure about the authenticity of the so-called reports based on the confessional statements? Any positive answer to this question, so far, has not been ascertained.

The so called confessional statements may be distorted, and even fabricated, if we consider the following points:

The source of the interrogation transcripts of the secret TFI cell is still undefined. Officially such interrogation is treated as confidential, and no journalist is allowed to be present during the sessions of interrogations.

So, naturally the question is, who has taken this initiative of exposing secret information to the media? What is the motive behind this? Again, it may be mentioned that the transcripts of interrogation of only AL leaders were distributed to the media in CDs. The question is, why were such CDs of BNP leaders not distributed? Why has this discriminatory step been followed?

Recorded CDs of the interrogation of the AL leaders, which were distributed to the media, seem to be edited. These recorded audio transcripts are not clear enough,

And sometimes they seem to be superimposed over other voices. Technically, by using the superimposition technique, the statements recorded can be changed or edited. So, in that case, the possibility of such contamination must be investigated.

In some cases, misinterpretation of the claimed confessional statements is possible. For instance, most of the cases for receiving money from the leading businessmen are termed as "extortion" cases.

In fact, in bourgeois democracy, receiving money on part of a political party is a norm. Even in the developed countries like the US and the UK, political parties are financially supported by multi-national companies or big corporations, and this is called donation or subscription.

So, when BNP or AL received money from businessmen, it should not be portrayed as extortion. However, the point to be emphasised is whether this money was used for carrying out party activities or taken by the leaders for their personal gain.

We cannot ignore the possibility of extraction of such confessional statements from political leaders and others under tremendous mental and physical pressure. In this respect, one such interrogated leader, Mr. Obaidul Kader of AL, told the reporters at the court that "everything was lies." To escape from the torture these leaders might "confess" to what is dictated by the interrogator.

Right now, Bangladesh is passing through a critical juncture in the history. The lack of transparency of the government on some sensitive state issues like the present one has made the situation more complex.

We, the majority of the common people, are confused. We are seeing the aspirants of the so-called "minus-two" theory becoming active again. Maybe, behind the scenes, some are initiating the heinous policy of character assassination of the central leadership to implement their much desired "minus-two" theory.

So, assessing the above stated background, our media should act cautiously. If the so-called confessional statements are wrong or contaminated, then, in future, the present role of some in the media will be much deplored.

Finally, it should be mentioned here that this article is not defending the corrupt politicians. Rather, it asks the media to unearth the truth. The media concerned need to be very cautious, and they must reveal whether any coterie inside or outside the government is working for creating leadership vacuum in the country.

-- Daily Star