Covering the 1973 DU election was not much fun because I was still a student and was mistaken as an activist. I managed to escape from the campus rumpus with the help of friends but journalism became addictive. After 50 years I am still at it and will probably die writing a report. I can’t resist it.
Journalism has changed over the years and the current variety is often different from the kind I learnt and grew up with. But of course there are many kinds of people and types in the profession and that’s how it should be when it comes to the media.
The monthly Endeavour and daily People
My first serious media job was for a monthly which was published by my friend the late M. Anwarul Haq when we were both students. Anwar was obsessed with writing and publishing and “Endeavor’s birth was inevitable. His family owned a printing press in Tejgaon so publishing an English magazine in the mid-70s of Dhaka became possible. It took both courage and commitment but it happened. In fact, in the university days, The Editor was known as “Endeavour Anwar.” Today few remember it but both are certainly part of our national media history.
Anwar was the university correspondent of the daily People. It was brought out by Abidur Rahman and made its debut before 1971. In fact the publication was targeted by the Pakistan army on the night of the 25th. It came out in full force after independence but never really reached that height it could as there were many other competitors by then. And in the post 1972 reality, the kind of loyalty he displayed to the ruling party was not popular with the readers. The landscape had changed.
Ataus Samad and the matter of numbers
I had admired Ataus Samad bhai for a longtime because of his integrity and authenticity and knew him professionally and personally, both. He accompanied Sk. Mujibur Rahman on the plane trip from London to Dhaka in January 1972 and the broadcast he made on the BTV was/is historical. As fate would have it, we ended up as colleagues for the BBC in the 1994-96 period as regular broadcasters. He worked for the World Service while I batted for the Bangla Service.
The first assignment I covered was a protest meeting called by the Awami League against the ruling BNP government in Feb 1994 I think. There were serious clashes including use of gun fire and bodies fell. Right in the thick of it, I felt no fear which after all these years seems odd to my 70 years + bones. I saw a youth with his legs blown apart by a street bomb, sitting on the sidewalk frozen by shock. He was a visitor to the city with no idea of what was on, a typical collateral victim.
Ataus Samad bhai , called me around 3 and asked how many “dead” I was mentioning in my report. I said two certain and not sure about one. He said he had interviewed that boy with his bombed legs in the hospital and played the tape recorder. “ He is not dead yet. We both need to have the same number.”
My reporting time was 6.30 in the evening and I was ready with a final body count when Samad bhai called. “ Afsan, make it three. The boy died”.
Our reports caused great sensation but what I remember most is Samad bhai’s dedication to accuracy. It made all the difference between the ordinary and the excellent.
Moazzem Hossain: Journalist and Editor
The 70s had two spots in the media that went beyond journalism. One was the weekly “Bichitra” office and the other was the weekly “Holiday” one. They weren’t really media offices but cultural zones and I have been lucky to have been part of both, first as a student and later as contributors.
The Holiday crowd was an exceptional one, as the best souls of English journalism came to write or visit there. It was there that I met Moazzem Hossain bhai ,our premier economic affairs correspondent then and later Editor of this paper.
Samad bhai and Moazzem bhai had one thing in common. Both were perfectionist and would go to enormous lengths to write and also edit to produce quality copy. Moazzem bhai was called by a colleague as ‘obsessed” with quality and I wondered if that is what is sometimes missing in today’s media in some cases.
Not all reporters make great Editors and many Editors today are not even from journalism but Moazzem bhai was that rarity, brilliant in both roles and that probably makes him the best combo Bangladesh ever had.
My one regret was that I was planning an online weekly and Moazzem bhai had promised to help officially. We had several meetings over lunch. He was full of enthusiasm but also mentioned his ticker not doing well. And then one day he was suddenly gone. It’s not just personal but a loss to the media as an institution in Bangladesh.
After fifty years in the media I am happy that I remember the individuals with whom I worked as much as I do many of the brilliant reports they made and wrote.
afsan.c@gmail.com