Happy 26th Birthday, The Daily Star!

A lifeline with the homeland

Congratulations to The Daily Star on its 26th birthday. Every year on this day, I rejoice, along with its readers and staff, at the accomplishments of this newspaper not only in the past year but also since its very first day, in 1991. The team that started this venture, and some of them are still here today, can be truly proud of what they have managed to get done, regardless of the political upheavals, vicissitudes of market forces in print media, and the technological changes that have affected this young entity as it was growing up. Since this is only the beginning of this long journey, I will not list all of the milestones from the last 26 years, but only ask you to keep up the good work and be "ambitious", since I am here to "praise The Daily Star, not to bury it", to paraphrase Shakespeare.

For many of us who spend most of our time away from our beloved land, this newspaper, both the hardcopy (e-paper) and the electronic version, has been a lifeline to the events, developments, and everyday news that affect our people. Every day at around lunchtime (1 pm in winter and 2 pm in summer), I visit www.dailystar.net to get a glimpse of the headlines from the next day's newspaper. I am sure thousands of others do the same, and we all share the same condition: we want to know what the team at The Daily Star is thinking and what they are highlighting in the newspaper. I wouldn't say that we necessarily are in tune with everything we read in The Daily Star, but we are all looking at the same page even though we may not be "on the same page". As someone who is a 'blood relation' of this newspaper (SM Ali, the first editor was my mother's first cousin) and has flourished from its welcoming arms, I can only celebrate as this national treasure turns another page.

Dr. Abdullah Shibli 

Economist who has contributed to this newspaper since 2008 to the Opinion, Literature, and Book Review sections

Serving readers for 26 years 

I congratulate you all on the 26th anniversary of The Daily Star. I still remember the day it was launched. The Daily Star has indeed served its readers well and I am sure it shall continue to do so. I wish the members of the Administration Department and all others involved with the paper a very good 2017. 

Professor Selina Mohsin 

Former Ambassador

 

Scoring impossible goals

I congratulate the bold and brave team called The Daily Star, which from time to time score beautiful goals, which are very baffling, timely, and effective too. I know journalism is a very different ballgame from football, yet I congratulate this wonderful team for producing so many Peles to score so many unbelievable/impossible goals! I know the referees are not always fair, and there are extremely rowdy elements in the crowd! Yet, Mahfuz Anam and his brave players are still playing, although he and some other players in the team have to play barefoot while the players in their opposite team are all wearing spiky boots. Thank goodness, only their shinbones and ribs are injured, but the skulls are still intact!  Have a good game The Daily Star!

I remember some excerpts from Mahfuz Anam's first post-editorial titled "Dreams Reborn", that he wrote on January 1991: "The bottom line is that democracy is a total commitment. We either take it in its totality or we don't. It does not come in parts. . .What should have been our people's emancipation remained confined to political independence. . . Now that the opportunity is back, surely we can hope to work together for the re-emergence of those qualities of '71 - patriotism, sacrifice, commitment, hard work, and discipline - that gave birth to our country. The dreams that have been reborn require the rebirth of those spirits."

Congratulations, Mahfuz Anam for explaining what the real chetona of 1971 is. 

Taj Hashmi 

Professor of Security Studies at Austin Peay State University

A unique Bangladeshi 

institution

Congratulations to The Daily Star team! The Daily Star has become a unique Bangladeshi institution, increasingly admired around the world. We salute it for its contribution to journalism, but, more importantly, a culture of accountability in Bangladesh. I particularly appreciated its work in building environmental awareness and making urbanisation an issue of national priority.

Wish the newspaper continued success!  

Adnan Morshed 

Architect, architectural historian and urbanist based in Washington, DC

A voice of reason

It has been both a pleasure and a privilege for over thirteen years, writing for and being part of The Daily Star. Long may it continue to grow and be a voice of reason in a world where chaos appears to reign supreme! I wish The Daily Star all the very best.

Nadia Kabir Barb 

Freelance columnist based in the UK