Atiqullah Khan Masud no more
Eminent journalist and Editor and Publisher of the daily Janakantha Mohammad Atiqullah Khan Masud passed away yesterday morning.
He was 71.
Atiqullah, also a valiant freedom fighter, left behind his wife, two sons, grandchildren and relatives to mourn his death.
The chairman of Globe Janakantha Shilpa Paribar was declared dead after being rushed to a private hospital in the capital around 5:30am, said Tapan Biswas, special correspondent of the newspaper.
He was suffering from breathing problems, he added.
His namaj-e-janaza was held at the mosque inside the cantonment.
The body will be kept in the mortuary of a hospital in Shahbagh. He will be laid to rest after his elder son arrives home from abroad.
Soon after news of Atiqullah's death spread, a pall of gloom descended on the people of the media community and other spheres.
President Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina expressed profound shock and sorrow at the death of the veteran journalist.
In a message of condolence, President Hamid prayed for eternal peace of the departed soul and conveyed his sympathy to the bereaved family.
The prime minister also prayed for eternal peace of the departed soul and offered sympathy to the family.
Sampadak Parishad (Editors' Council) President Mahfuz Anam and Secretary General Naem Nizam in a condolence message expressed deep shock at the demise of Atiqullah and also prayed for eternal peace of the departed soul and conveyed sympathy to the family.
"With the death of Atiqullah, the country lost a renowned editor and non-communal voice. The freedom fighter made Janakantha a strong pro-Liberation force," the Sampadak Parishad said.
Newspaper Owners' Association of Bangladesh (Noab) President AK Azad condoled the demise of Atiqullah.
Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury also expressed shock.
A host of ministers and state ministers expressed shock at the loss.
They include Road Transport and Bridges Minister and ruling Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader, Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal, Law Minister Anisul Huq, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan, Agriculture Minister Abdur Razzaque, Education Minister Dipu Moni, Information and Broadcasting Minister Hasan Mahmud, Health Minister Zahid Maleque, State Minister for Labour and Employment Begum Monnujan Sufian and State Minister for Shipping Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury.
Jatiya Party, Dhaka University, National University and other socio-economic organisations also condoled the death.
When the body was taken to Janakantha Bhaban, which houses the newspaper and Globe Janakantha Shilpa Paribar Limited offices, his long-time colleagues and others paid their last respects.
Atiqullah, who was born on August 29 in 1951 in Munshiganj, was also a former vice-president of Brothers Union Club and general secretary of Shishu Shasthya Foundation.
He founded Janakantha in 1993. At the beginning, the paper was the only daily in Bangladesh that was printed and published from different regions of the country simultaneously through its microwave system with its own set-up of local press and offices and distributed early in the morning all over the country. But currently Janakantha is being printed, published and circulated throughout Bangladesh from its Dhaka office.
Atiqullah was arrested by law enforcers in March 2007 and faced a number of false cases on different charges, including patronising criminal activity, corruption, and "carrying out propaganda against the government".
He was even sentenced to jail for over 40 years. Atiqullah was relieved from all cases after the Awami League government came to power in 2009.
Atiqullah established the Globe Janakantha Shilpa Paribar in early 1969 when he was 17 and a college student. He started the business by borrowing Rs 1,200 from his brother and brother's friend on a commitment to give them 50 percent of the profit that he would earn from the business.
In the meantime, he got a golden opportunity in the month of March 1971 when the price of betel leaf (pan) jumped to Rs 175 a kg in West Pakistan. The leaf cost only Rs 3 a kg in then East Pakistan, now Bangladesh.
Atiqullah joined the Liberation War and fought at sector-2. After the war, he completed his graduation and engaged himself in full time business with the money he earned before independence.
He founded Globe Insecticides Ltd in 1978, the pioneer and the largest manufacturer of domestic insecticides -- mosquito coils, smokeless MAT with electric mosquito destroyer and aerosol insecticides -- with the technical cooperation of Earth Chemical Company Ltd, Japan.
In 1990, with a technical assistance from China, Atiqullah established a heavy industry called Globe Metal Complex Ltd.
He also founded Globe Khamar Prokalpa Ltd in 1997 and Globe Construction Ltd, a real estate company, in 1998.
Comments