18th death anniversary of Azimur Rahman

Today is the 18th death anniversary Azimur Rahman, founder chairman of Mediaworld Ltd, the owning company of The Daily Star.

On this day in 2001, he died in Dhaka.

Azimur Rahman was born in Kolkata in 1935, and completed his BSc honors in science from Dhaka University and his MSc in mechanical engineering from Colorado University in Boulder, USA. He was the youngest son of late Khan Bahadur Faizur Rahman, the first Muslim post master general in undivided India, stationed in Madras.

His self-effacing demeanour belied his sharp mind and entrepreneurial excellence. An enterprising industrialist, he was the chairman and managing director of Arlinks Groups, Founder Director of Reliance Insurance Ltd and a former vice president of Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industries. He was a founding board member of Mediastar Ltd, the owning company of the Prothom Alo.

He was also an avid sportsman from his early years with a passion for tennis and later, golf, winning many awards in tournaments.

His interest in the print media came later in life but it was with great enthusiasm that he involved himself as one of the founders of The Daily Star. As the founding chair of Mediaworld Ltd, he was instrumental in getting the company going as an efficient and modern media business house. He always advocated for providing good working conditions for the staff and introduced a management policy that was shared by all the other directors. But most importantly, like the other members of the board, he was a true believer in the freedom of the media and had an instrumental role in making The Daily Star a truly independent newspaper.