It has been a year that our chairman Latifur Rahman is no longer with us. It was on a day like this last year (1 July 2020), in the peaceful green surroundings of his village home in Cheora of Chauddogram, Cumilla, that Latifur Rahman, our Shamim bhai, silently slipped far away. Exactly four years before that, his beloved grandson Faraaz Ayaaz Hossain lost his life in a brutal militant attack. What an unbelievable bond! Every night he would look at Faraaz’s picture on his phone before falling asleep. He did not forget to do the same that night either.
We spent the last year without Shamim bhai, but is he actually not among us? He has been with us each and every day. He is still with us and will remain with us in the future too. When Prothom Alo goes ahead, adhering to its ethics and ideals, when it remains steadfast in its aims, Latifur Rahman is with us. When Prothom Alo crossed the milestone of 15 million likes on Facebook, he surely must have been smiling happily from afar.
Prothom Alo ranks 10th in the world among daily newspapers in terms of Facebook page followers and 5th among South Asian media (Source: Socialbakers). This certainly must be the happiest news for him.
Almost every single day we recall Latifur Rahman in one way or the other. We talk about him, we feel his absence. It is not just in the Prothom Alo office or among Prothom Alo staff, but his name comes up in conversations with businesspersons, journalists, writers, cultural personalities and other prominent persons of the society. We invariably talk about him.
I would have to call upon Shamim bhai for issues related to Prothom Alo and other matters. And thus I grew a strong personal relationship with him. Shamim bhai was the chairman of our organisation, but he was like a friend to us. We have rarely seen such an honest and sincere man as him. He was so well-mannered. No matter whether it was a senior employee or a junior member of staff, he would always be the first to offer his salaam, extend his hand in greeting. He would inquire after everyone. He maintained such behaviour everywhere, all the time. I must relate an incident. Once one of our office cleaners was crying. When asked what had happened, he replied. “I couldn’t offer my salaam to Sir first!”
2.
Boosted by Shamim bhai’s enthusiasm, we brought out Prothom Alo with just two months’ preparation. For almost 23 years, Prothom Alo has been the leading newspaper of Bangladesh, and much of the credit goes to Shamim bhai. He fixed our target -- Prothom Alo must run on its own revenue. It must pay all government taxes, VAT, etc. It must become the country’s top newspaper in quality and numbers. And he gave us full independence to work to this end.
He had to face quite a lot of backlash and threats because of the newspaper, a lot of slurs and smears. He tolerated all this, was never perturbed and never asked us to relent. We went through very hard times too. And in these adverse times he stood solidly by us like banyan tree. We keep all this in mind as we continue ahead.
He firmly believed in the role and necessity of independent media in consolidating democracy and development. That is why he invested in newspapers. He first took up the English daily newspaper, The Daily Star, and then Prothom Alo. He wanted to ensure the independence of both the newspapers and that is why, before bringing out the newspapers, he took the decision not to do any business with the government because that would be a hindrance. And that is why even down till today we continue as independent and unbiased media.
After Prothom Alo was launched, we faced various problems and pressure under every government. We went through a great deal of ups and downs to reach where we stand today. It has not been just the government and forces outside of the government, but also certain media and business quarters as well as various invisible forces that have tried to obstruct us in various ways. But he never asked us to change our newspaper’s policy. As an investor, he never put any pressure on us. So many people went to him with so many complaints, but he would say “We only look into the business side of the newspaper. The editor looks into the policy-making. You should go to him.” Then he would simply inform me who had approached him.
He had to face quite a lot of backlash and threats because of the newspaper, a lot of slurs and smears. He tolerated all this, was never perturbed and never asked us to relent. We went through very hard times too. And in these adverse times he stood solidly by us like banyan tree. We keep all this in mind as we continue ahead.
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Prothom Alo stands as an institution today and this is a reflection of Latifur Rahman’s dreams. It is because of him that Prothom Alo gradually expanded and spread out. We began to publish monthly magazines too (Kishor Alo, Bigyan Chinta and Cholti Ghotona) and the quarterly Protichinta. The publishing house Prothoma was launched. We took up all sorts of initiatives – discussions, roundtables, the Math Olympiad and more. Prothom Alo Trust and Bondhushava also have innumerable activities. Then there are a variety of digital and social media initiatives. From the very outset, Latifur Rahman gave us encouragement. It was his support and cooperation that enabled us to spread out our branches so far and wide. In the 22 years of the newspaper, not for once did he disagree with any of our initiatives.
In this one year without Shamim bhai, Prothom Alo never faltered from its aim, objectives and ideals. Many raised the question as to whether Prothom Alo would remain the same as before. The new leadership at Transcom and Mediastar has given us all-out cooperation and the last year has proven that Prothom Alo remains steadfast as an institution of independent and unbiased journalism, and will remain so.
After Prothom Alo was launched, we faced various problems and pressure under every government. We went through a great deal of ups and downs to reach where we stand today. It has not been just the government and forces outside of the government, but also certain media and business quarters as well as various invisible forces that have tried to obstruct us in various ways. But he never asked us to change our newspaper’s policy. As an investor, he never put any pressure on us
Prothom Alo is taking all sorts of initiatives to stay ahead in quality and circulation. Prothom Alo Online is now the no. 1 website of Bangladesh as well as the no. 1 Bangla language website in the world (Source: Alexa). Prothom Alo’s print and online editions came up with a special arrangement centering the installment of the last span of Padma bridge and the linking of the two banks of the river last December. Prothom Alo received international recognition for this arrangement. It won ‘Honourable Mention’ in the ‘Global Media Awards 2021’ programme, organised by the International News Media Association (INMA), a global community of market-leading news media companies. Prothom Alo is the first Bangladeshi media to get this acclaimed international recognition. The award was announced through a virtual programme on 3 June. Earlier, in February last year, Prothom Alo won the World Association of News Publishers (WAN-INFRA) ‘South Asian Digital Media Award-2020’.
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The outbreak of coronavirus has created an alarming situation around the world. All over the world people are in fear. Bangladesh is no exception. And naturally Prothom Alo has not escaped from the impact. This situation has brought us up against a new reality. We realise that the future of newspapers lies in digital media alongside print. And so we have strengthened and diversified our online and digital media.
All this has increased work pressure and the scope of work too. In this situation, each and every employee of Prothom Alo and their families are supporting us, giving us strength, standing by our side. We are going ahead, sometimes entire teams working from home, sometimes partially working from home, working in every way that we can. Our aim is for Prothom Alo to remain for a long, long time to come. We continue in our efforts and so Latifur Rahman’s dream and ideals will live on. We remember him very specially today and express our deepest respect.
Matiur Rahman is Editor, Prothom Alo