Remembering Zaglul ‘Bhai’

Zaglul Ahmed Chowdhury left us for good on November 29 in a tragic road accident. He was going to ATN Bangla to take part in a talk show with Bhorer Kagoj editor Shaymal Dutta.

As he was trying to get down from the bus near Kawran Bazar, the bus sped away and he fell on the road with serious injuries. He succumbed to his injuries in a city hospital near Panthapath.

It was in 1973 that I became Zaglul Ahmed Chowdhury's colleague in Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS). But before that I met him at the Dhaka University Political Science department where we both studied. He was senior to me by two years.

We worked together as colleagues for almost 35 years until he tendered his resignation shortly prior to his retirement. He was a very restless person. As we were about to leave office after day's work, he would often ask me to accompany him to a typical Dhakai restaurant to have foods.

He was a great connoisseur of good foods. He used to visit kitchen markets very often and would always instruct his cook to prepare dishes. On such occasions, he would leave for home around noon just to have sumptuous food that was prepared for the day by his cook.

Zaglul bhai was a keen sports lover and would always keep track of all important sports events, particularly cricket.

He also covered big sports events like SAF Games in Dhaka and important cricket matches with us.

I began my journalistic career as a sports reporter and covered the 9th Asian Games in New Delhi. Our journey to Delhi was very eventful as we went to Kolkata (then Calcutta) by plane and then took a train to reach Delhi.

It was great fun for us as we travelled by train but for the hosts it was not so. Ours was the only team that availed railway to reach the destination while others flew to Delhi.

As I reached Delhi railway station, the ever-smiling Zaglul bhai was there to greet me. It was early morning and was quite cold. He did not have a transport and took a bus to reach the railway station defying the bitter Delhi cold.

I was nervous while preparing a report on the opening ceremony extravaganza of the Asian Games. But Zaglul bhai came to my rescue.

He would cover the opening ceremony while I would do the rest. In fact, apart from the opening ceremony there was nothing to report on the inaugural day. It was a great relief for me.

There were some 20 journalists from Bangladesh who went to Delhi to cover the Asian Games. He invited all of us to a dinner in his Panchsheel Park residence.

He made all the arrangements and also engaged his Delhi journalist friends to drop us to our respective destinations after the dinner.

I always found him as a kind of a teacher who would teach us to write correct English. He was very particular about spelling of the names of dignitaries.

He would often lean over our typewriters (later monitors) to see what we were writing and would politely suggest corrections.

Zaglul bhai became the Chief Editor and Managing Director of BSS in 2006. He took keen interest in reporting.  During the weekly meetings with the reporters he would always speak in English and would encourage us to do so.

He used to come to office both in the morning and in the evening. In the evening, he would see the reporters' copies and read each report from beginning to the end and then mark errors with a red pen.

We would jokingly refer this act of his as an "act of red pen terrorism."  

Zaglul bhai wanted me to cover the Foreign Office (he was a foreign office correspondent for a long time). He would say: 'Shafiq you are a smart guy and you should do the Foreign Office beat'. Then I was assigned to cover also the Foreign Office, along with him.

In 1988 there was a meeting of the SAARC Foreign Ministers' in Kathmandu, Nepal. Zaglul bhai requested the Foreign Office to include me in the media team to cover the event for BSS.

I was surprised since it was his beat. He requested the BSS management to nominate me. I was overwhelmed at his gesture. He simply said young reporters should also cover such events to gather experience.

Zaglul Ahmed Chowdhury had a strong political belief and was associated with students' politics while studying in the Dhaka University. He was the youngest Assistant Secretary General of the undivided Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists (BFUJ).

But when there was a spilt in the Dhaka Union of Journalists (DUJ), he stayed away from union activities and did not join any forum.

When Ekushey TV was launched, Zaglul bhai regularly participated in its programmes. He told me a story. Once he was travelling in a bus from Kawran Bazar to Press Club.

As the bus conductor approached him, he was about to pay the fare. But the conductor noticed him and said: 'Sir, you need not pay any fare as you have lost your job with the closing of Ekushey TV.

Zaglul bhai tried to explain that he was working with BSS and not with Ekushey TV, but a determined conductor would not budge.  

I watched him talk in ATN News on November 28 for the last time. He was in the company of two others including former Ambassador Mohammad Zamir.

I was lying on bed but as he appeared on the screen I got up from the bed and watched the entire programme. I never knew that it was his last TV programme.   

Zaglul bhai took up writing seriously soon after his return from Delhi where he was posted as BSS bureau chief. He used to write both in English and Bangla.

He was a prolific writer and used to write on contemporary South Asian issues and on subjects which were of interest to the readers.

He always kept himself updated with the happenings in and around South Asia. After SAARC came into being, he took a great interest in it and covered all important SAARC events.

Later on, I too was posted in Delhi in 2009 and whenever I came across a senior journalist there, he would enquire about Zaglul Ahmed Chowdhury.

Zaglul Ahmed Chowdhury knew all important people in the Ministry of External Affairs (foreign ministry) in India and had regular contact with them. Likewise in Dhaka too, he maintained regular contact with the diplomats.

I found a good number of former Indian High Commissioners to Dhaka attending Victory Day/ Independence Day and other celebrations at the Bangladesh High Commission in Delhi. They too would enquire about the well-being of Zaglul Ahmed Chowdhury when I introduced myself as BSS representative there.

Zaglul bhai's untimely departure is a serious blow to journalism. He has a long list of admirers who will miss him for years to come. As for myself, I have lost a good friend whom I adored as a prolific writer. We will miss his talk show and his articles. May his soul rest in peace.

The writer is a senior journalist.