The union leaders, in a statement, invited the prime minister and the finance minister to an open debate with the editors, senior journalists and union leaders over the role of the media and accountability of journalists as the newsmen have no scope of expressing their views in parliament.

The BFUJ is ready to arrange such a debate programme if the government agrees on it, they said.

The leaders said a number of journalists were tortured and killed in the last five years, but no culprits have been brought to book so far.

They said journalists are being attacked whenever they write reports on corruption and other misdeeds of the ministers and their relatives.

They urged the journalists to carry out their professional duties without fear.

The signatories to the statement include BFUJ President Manjurul Ahsan Bulbul and General Secretary Abdul Jalil Bhuiyan, Dhaka Union of Journalists President Altaf Mahmud and General Secretary Omar Faruk, Chittagong Union of Journalists President Shahid-ul-Alam and General Secretary Reaz Haidar, Khulna Union of Journalists Acting President Syed Fayez Ahmed and General Secretary Anwarul Islam Kajal and Rajshahi Union of Journalists President Akbarul Hasan Millat and General Secretary Jahangir Alam Akash.