‘Whoever reads newspapers can’t be a thief’

In Banasree, on any given morning, if you find yourself walking past a newspaper stall that has been left unattended, don't be surprised. Just pick up the newspaper or magazine that you want, put the money in the box that's kept nearby, and you are on your way.

The stall you have come across is owned by Abul Bashar, who has made a habit of keeping his newspaper stall open in the morning and going about his day, distributing newspapers to subscribers and keeping up with personal tasks.

While he does this, his stall remains open, and he even leaves a box of change on his stool.

Around midday on a weekday recently, this correspondent visited Banasree E block, where he found the empty stall -- which was made up simply of a bench, a stool and an umbrella on the footpath. When asked about the shop owner, a coconut seller who was camped just next to the stall replied, "Please take what you want, don't worry about where the owner is."

Half an hour later, Abul Bashar, 55, came from his prayer and said, "It's a test of belief. The people who come to buy newspapers or magazines have never failed this test in the last 10 years. I also believe that whoever reads newspapers can't be a thief."

Bashar said he went to Kuwait in 1990, where he found shops where there were no shopkeepers. "There are products, there is a place to put the money, then what is my duty here?"

In the 1980s, he came to Dhaka from Cumilla's Chauddagram and started working as a newspaper lineman, supplying newspapers from door to door. Later, he tried his luck by going to Kuwait but failed due to the start of the Gulf War in 1991. In 2000, he went to the Maldives and was sent back within 18 months.

Since then, he has stayed in the newspaper business. His employer, who operated an area (also known as a line) comprising three blocks at Banasree, let him operate it.

"I invested a large amount of money to buy the line but had to incur losses due to the pandemic," he said.

Before the pandemic, his fixed customers were around 1,000 a day in three blocks of Banasree, but the number is down to 300-400 now. He sells newspapers with a commission, and he has two employees working under him as linemen now.

"We are fine. But the high cost of goods in the market puts us under pressure," he said, speaking about his economic condition.

Bashar lives at East Rampura with his wife. His eldest son lives in Qatar, but he needs his expenses sent from Bangladesh as he does not have a job there. His another son is working as an electrician while one of his daughters has been married off. His youngest daughter lives in the village with her grandparents, and goes to school there.

"My fate has been intertwined with the newspaper business and I have formed a bond of love with this job," he said. "I start my day at dawn and take my lunch in the house to spend time with my family."

Bashar feels that his entire line of work is now facing problems due to the dominance of online news, but he realises that newspapers are forced to shift their focus for the sake of survival.

"People now read newspapers online. There were huge offices that used to subscribe to newspapers in the past, but those [subscriptions] are also in decline," he added.

He has many well-wishers in his area. One of them was found standing beside his shop, reading a newspaper. "Readers like me sometimes act as shopkeepers when he goes somewhere," he said.

The system is a major indicator of a commitment to create a better society, a well-wisher wrote on Facebook.