Alamgir Mohiuddin: A great journalist in ordinary clothes

Alamgir Mohiuddin, the founder editor of daily Naya Diganta

Mostafa Kamal Majumdar

I first saw Alamgir Mohiuddin bhai in November 1974, working in great speed on a typewriter in a corner of the news room of Bangladesh Times. He was a healthy man, working as a diplomatic correspondent in a smart dress. He spoke in a pleasant and friendly manner. Matiur Rahman was the chief reporter of that paper, which was brought out by bringing together the leading members of English journalism in Bangladesh at that time. After a few days, when he joined Biman Bangladesh Airlines as its public relations director, Alamgir Mohiuddin took over the responsibility of the chief reporter. He worked in this position for more than a decade and was promoted to news editor.

A simple-minded man, Alamgir Mohiuddin's work was also easy and simple. He did not have the instinct to assert himself. Nor did he not impose himself by using discretion.

It was in 1977. Aminul Islam, a professor of the Geography Department of Dhaka University, raised a question. Is the world's climate changing? A few days before, a terrible tornado hit Faridpur's Bhederganj. However the Demra tornado of 1969 was the most devastating tornado to hit Bangladesh. Bangladesh had never experienced violent such localised storm before. I gave this interview-based scoop report to Alamgir Bhai, in my own style. He edited its intro so beautifully that it became a world news after it was printed on the front page the next day as box news.

At that time, the editorial content of that newspaper was coordinated by the respected Shahidul Huq. The owner and editor in papers was Sheikh Fazlul Haque Moni. After the change of political power, Enayetullah Khan and after him Shahidul Huq Bhai became the editor of the same newspaper. Shahidul Huq the Director General of the Press Institute of Bangladesh. The respected Mahbubul Alam was the joint editor who later became the editor of The Independent and the ambassador of the Bangladesh  government. Among the columnists were Abdus Salam, the famous editor of the Bangladesh Observer, and Atiquzzaman Khan, the pioneer of journalism education in Bangladesh.

One of the many reports that Alamgir Mohiuddin Bhai made a splash in those seventies was that a large piece of Bangladeshi land was rising in the Bay of Bengal due to riverine sedimentation. The Bangladesh Times soon made its place among the newspapers and magazines of Dhaka for its good reports, articles and features, and attractive get-ups.

In a career spanning nearly six decades, Alamgir Mohiuddin worked as the editor of The New Nation, the acting editor of the present The Bangladesh Times, the chief reporter of the now-defunct Morning News, the special correspondent of the Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, and the Bangladesh correspondent of the international news agency UPI and the famous Pakistani newspaper Dawn.

In the mid-eighties, Alamgir Bhai received intensive training for about a year in the Journalists in Europe Programme. After returning, he took charge of the reporting section again. Along with this responsibility, he started working as the Bangladesh correspondent of the American news agency UPI. He worked in this organization for more than five years. Later, he was given the responsibility of news editor and respected Anwar Zahid Bhai was promoted to executive editor. As news editor, he did various experiments on the make-up and get-up of the newspaper. However, due to the hostile environment, he and Chief Reporter Muzaffar Hossain Manik left The Bangladesh Times and joined The New Nation newspaper. Alamgir Bhai got the responsibility of editor there. Many reports were published in the New Nation edited under his leadership that attracted attention at home and abroad. Among them was one report on cracks in the pavement of the Jamuna Bridge. The series of reports published on India's river-interlinking master plan inspired the launch of the Save Rivers movement in the country. Under his editorship, New Nation became a patriotic paper which upheld the cultural values of the people. After going through many ups and downs, he was invited to edit Naya Diganta in 2004 and joined it. He remained in that position until recently. Needless to say, Naya Diganta has been a successful newspaper for 21 years despite thousands of adversities. A large part of its credit must go to Alamgir Bhai.

As a newsman, Alamgir Bhai was a dedicated person. He could not sit idly by. While in the office, he would do something. When he was not writing, he would search the internet all over the world to gather necessary information. He was very rich in information. In the last two years of his life, he spent most of his time at the National Press Club. During this time, he shared the knowledge he had gathered from his treasure trove with many people.

Shah Abdul Halim, a former public relations officer at the Saudi embassy, ​​a writer and a close friend of Alamgir Bhai, said that Alamgir Bhai did not write a single article after the death of his life partner a few years ago. I was not aware of this information. At the Press Club, he used to sit together at Ershad Majumder Bhai's table and gossip. Sometimes they would eat and drink together. Whenever he saw me, he would call me or come and sit near me.

Before his death, Ershad Majumder had told me that the workload on Alamgir Bhai had increased as the Naya Diganta authorities had given him some of the management responsibilities of the newspaper. He commented that he would have been better off if he had been busy with writing only.

Alamgir Bhai, a survivor of a successful heart bypass surgery, had started to show signs of deteriorating health about a year ago. He looked quite weak at the Iftar gathering at the Press Club last Ramadan. His walking speed had slowed down.

Doctors said that he had mineral imbalances in his body. There was an excess or deficiency of one or more minerals such as sodium, chlorine, magnesium, calcium and potassium. Apart from this, they also said that he had various problems including urine, breathing problems, and blood pressure fluctuations.

On May 30, he suddenly fell ill at home. He was quickly admitted to the capital's Anwar Khan Modern Medical College Hospital. After recovering somewhat, he was taken home a few days later. Last week, he fell ill again and was admitted to the same hospital.

On Saturday, August 23, at 1:30 pm, he breathed his last while undergoing treatment at the hospital. Alamgir Mohiuddin was born on March 1, 1942 in Natore district. He was 83 years old. He is survived by two daughters. His eldest daughter lives in Canada. His wife passed away four years ago.

Last year, I had arranged a lunch for Alamgir Bhai and some other former Bangladesh Times journalists at the Press Club. They included former Times editor Rakib Siddiqui, Reuters cameraman Rafiqur Rahman, Financial Express editor Shamsul Haque Zahid and sports editor Manjurul Haque. Everyone except me had beef on the menu and ate it with gusto. Many members in the club were delighted to see us and talked to us. Now it is just a memory.

(Writer, researcher, journalism trainer and teacher, Mostafa Kamal Majumder is a former editor of The New Nation and is currently editing GreenWatcch Dhaka online daily.)