Farewell Mizanur Rahman Khan

COVID-19 has taken many of our loved ones. Mizanur Rahman Khan, our fellow journalist and joint editor of Prothom Alo, has been added in that list. It was beyond our imagination that we will lose him in such a way. We had a firm belief that he will recover, like our other colleagues who contracted coronavirus, when he was tested positive for the novel virus infection back in the first week of December, and Prothom Alo will be enriched with his sharp writings again, and all the readers will be enlightened and moved. But on Monday evening we had to hear the hardest news - Mizanur Rahman Khan is no more. He left the world at the age of only 53. This death is unbearable for his relatives, painful for his colleagues and an irreparable loss for journalism in Bangladesh.

Mizanur Rahman’s career extends more than three decades. He started his career as a journalist at a local newspaper in Barishal when he was a student and played an important role at several national dailies by means of his talent and hard work. He was the joint editor of Prothom Alo and was a popular columnist. Mizanur Rahman Khan's career started with reporting. That's why his investigative eyes had shed light everywhere regardless of the post he held. He established himself as an expert in law, although he studied accounting.

However, his interest and curiosity did not stop there. As a diplomatic news person he has explored deeply in the realm of international relations. When the burden of over 750,000 Rohingya refugees fell on Bangladesh, he regularly contacted local and foreign experts and raised the issue with the readers; he rushed to the international seminar held in Malaysia.

Mizanur Rahman Khan has taken interview-based journalism to a very high level. When he interviewed the politicians, it was clear that he knew the ins and outs of politics. When he interviewed the physicians or health experts, it seemed he had a keen interest on the subject.

In fact, the void created by the death of Mizanur Rahman Khan in this hard time of our journalism is not to be filled. In addition to writing regular columns and reports, he also proved his skills in video journalism. The picture of a severed hand stuck between two buses taken by him caused a stir even abroad. Mizanur Rahman Khan expanded his field of journalism on such a diverse subject, the comparison of which is rare.

In the midst of constant busyness of journalism, this talented journalist has also given a lot of time to research. Specially, by searching the US archives, he has brought out rare data on the Liberation War of Bangladesh, the bloody political upheaval of 1975, the political movements of fifties and sixties, which are valuable documents of our history. His endless curiosity in journalism is our constant motivation and his professional honesty and devotion will always remain as an example for us.

Mizanur Rahman khan was not only the joint editor of Prothom Alo, he was an inseparable part of it. The Prothom Alo family is deeply saddened by his death. We have our condolences and sympathy for his family. He was, is and will always be among us.