Moazzem bhai : "Only the best reaches the top"

It's only fitting that the last meeting with Moazzem bhai was not a social one but work related. We met several times at the Suruchi restaurant in the BRAC Centre. I brought my ideas to the table and he gave me his responses to them. It was how two professionals would discuss a new project. I didn't go to anyone else with my ideas because I trusted his wisdom both as a journalist and an Editor the most. And that combo is rare.
Moazzem bhai, was convinced that my idea of a niche "views paper" was worth following and agreed to back it. We parted with optimism. That was my last meeting with him. Soon the news of his passing away came and we all know a legend was gone. He had mentioned his health problems at the meeting also. Yet till he was breathing, he was kicking, pushing, working hard to make his media outlet the best in the field. Nothing else would do for him.
Not many have been able to offer what he did to Bangladesh media which gave him an iconic reputation as an economic reporter. But his skills and capacity as an Editor are peerless. That's what I would rate as his best space. He didn't just produce great content but built an institution. That is rare indeed. In the end, he departed as a working journalist who also wore an Editor's hat. We all remember him as that.
THE WEEKLY HOLIDAY DAYS: The 80s decade began the media boom which still continues. It was around this time that Dhaka began to see a new class of people willing to invest in media. The 70s were a period of turmoil particularly with political instability so intense that it almost broke the back of the formal part of the state. However, society settled down and as birth traumas declined, so grew wealth. By the mid-80s, new outlets were birthing and we saw the rise of the media in the emerging world.
Some outlets were of course older and kept going. The weekly Holiday was one such an outfit. It was very politically crusading and its Editor Enayetullah Khan, apart from being a media legend, was a part time politician as well. I say part time because, Mintu bhai's heart always was in journalism and while he wriggled his foot in the slightly muddy waters of politics, in the end, would always return to the desk where deadlines mattered.
Perhaps that was the reason why he could attract so many people to a paper that wasn't well off but where people liked to congregate. Some of the names -staff and contributors- are legends in their own right such as N. M. Harun, Syed Kamaluddin, Ataus Samad, Moazzem Hossain and others. At a time when paper media dominated, Holiday, with all its limitations, led the pack in the English media world.
We were the contributors and I truly enjoyed writing a satirical column- "Through the Windows of my Skull"- which was well read. My desk editor was Achintya Sen -a wonderful man with a political past that never really left him.
THE PROFESSIONALS THAT BUILT BANGLADESH MEDIA: We looked with great respect and reward towards the names we rubbed shoulders with because they were really the constructors of the Bangladesh media profession. They were respected by all and there was mutual respect as well, even though they disagreed amongst each other on so many points especially political issues.
Moazzem bhai was the total professional who wrote much of the stuff on economics and was without any question the leader in the field in Bangladesh. A report under his by-line made a world of difference and was heard /read by all who mattered. He stuck to his field and almost never ventured outside his beat. He knew his sector up and down and how he could achieve this status should not be a surprise. Moazzem bhai worked on a story with the kind of dedication a pilgrim shows on a difficult journey, he knows he must reach his destination.
In some ways, the entire lot who were there was obsessed with accuracy and the right language to describe the issue. Ataus Samad bhai would ponder what to say, then write it down and then slash it down again and restart on the story.
Moazzem bhai would sit and write small notes till he put them together and the report structure was complete. Then he would get down to writing and kept at it till he was satisfied. Was he a perfectionist like the rest? Well, basically that's the only way to do a good job and Moazzem bhai did just that. Which other way is there to become the number one except to work hard till one becomes that ?.
ON THE ROAD TO FINANCIAL EXPRESS: The three made a world of difference to the media world and were part of that Holiday group as friends. Moazzem bhai was an economy issues reporter, Harun bhai was the political stalwart, another perfectionist who got one chance to steer a paper -dainik Sangbad - and took it to its greatest height.
The most passionate reporter was Ataus Samad bhai who also steered a paper but it never really took off. In so many ways, he was the least attuned to the task of being an Editor and his greatness lies in being the best reporter of his time. And Moazzem bhai was the most successful journalist and Editor combo.
Plans to set up a finance and economy focused newspaper were first a dream which began to mature as his reputation grew as the leader in the field. He also belonged to the right media beat and made the right connection which was the most important decision ever. He knew whom to approach and what to say because he was trying to do several things which many Editors don't remember when they are planning a startup.
He needed investors naturally but those with a reputation without any stain. And he also needed journalistic freedom and dedication to content, nothing else. He wanted space to create a paper which would be independent and self- sufficient, politically and financially and management wise. He worked for several years behind this till the birth of the Financial Express.
It was around this time that he joined UNB and Dhaka Courier with which I was also involved. I was an ex-Acting Editor and now an Advisory Editor there. I would drop in regularly after work and chat but not on a daily basis. But when Moazzem bhai joined I came almost every day and we discussed his plans and ambitions. As he once said, "Only the best reaches the top." He went for that.
THE JOURNALIST AS THE EDITOR: As a working journalist, whether we have the capacity or not, we always dream of being an Editor. It's largely because as a professional we do the work but never get to call the shots. But Moazzem bhai planned to do exactly that and knew how to make that work. He knew his greatest asset was his credibility and professional capacity to do both management and journalism.
The Board of FE shows he knew the most respected investors with a track record that was the envy of the business world. And he brought in the best in the media world and together solemnized a marriage of convenience and excellence.
Today, Financial Express has become the best brand holder in the economics reporting based media niche. No matter how fancy looking the masthead is, what matters in the end is credibility which this paper bestows on every remark and coverage they make.
I had said many of the above in my FB posts after he passed away and they were personal tributes but I believe the most significant one is the paper published every day with its reputation and integrity intact after he is gone. He built an institution that is his greatest gift to the media and his own greatest legacy.
RIP Moazzem bhai.

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