Following claims by Janakantha’s editor and publisher Shamima Akhter in a leaked audio that political activists had taken over the newspaper, staff and journalists refuted these as unfounded. Shamima also stated she never ordered the template to be blackened, but rather red. The journalists presented eight demands: punishment of owners involved in disrespecting July revolution martyrs by blackening the template, reinstatement of all sacked journalists with dignity, a full print strike on August 6-7 protesting owners’ fascist behavior, immediate payment of nearly 150 million BDT in unpaid salaries, appointment of a government administrator, and swift arrest of those charged in pending cases.