Tofazzal Hossain Manik Mia & Today’s Bangladesh

Dr Mohammad Didare Alam Muhsin :
June 1, 2021 marks the 52nd death anniversary of late journalist Tofazzal Hossain Manik Mia. He died of a sudden heart attack on this day in 1969 at the age of just 58 while on a professional trip to Rawalpindi.
No one is immortal in this mortal world. It is an inescapable fact that all people are born to die. However, amid this, some people become immortal to their homeland and nation due to their feats. Their achievements turn out a source of inspiration to the country and the nation for decades and centuries.
Manik Mia is such a bright star in the world of journalism in this country. He is one of the shining examples illustrating that the great national leader Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, who is often called the son of democracy, was a true jeweler — capable of extracting gems from the depth of see. Suhrawardy’s proximity drew him from a remote area like Pirojpur to Calcutta in the then British India, where he served as the office secretary of the Provincial Muslim League (1945) and later as the secretary of the board of directors of the daily Ittehad edited by Abul Mansur Ahmed (1946-48). These events set the course of his subsequent life. His hand in politics and journalism in the company of people like Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy and Abul Mansur Ahmed laid the foundation for the important role he played in motivating politics from the position of a journalist in later life.
Bangabandhu and Manik Mia were two devoted close disciples of Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy. It is said that the duo have been playing the roles of sword and pen for him in national movements. A few years back, Barrister Amir-ul Islam said in a discussion meeting, “When Hussain Shaheed Suhrawardy was leaving for treatment after his release from jail, the freedom-loving youth asked him – you are leaving, what will happen to us? In reply Suhrawardy said- I am leaving behind two things for you: one is the field, the other is the pen. Mujib will be in charge of the field and Manik Mia in charge of the pen. These two things should not be separated. If the two remain together, the movement must be successful.” (gvV ‡`‡L‡Qb e½eÜy, Kj‡gi `vwq‡Z¡ wQ‡jb gvwbK wgqv| ‰`wbKB‡ËdvK), June 2, 2016)
Manik Mia and his Ittefaq were literally engaged in a relentless pen-war to form public opinion, in favor of the long mass struggle during the Pakistan period, led by great leaders like Maulana Bhasani, Sher-e-Bangla, Suhrawardy and Bangabandhu, for the establishment of democracy and the realization of the just rights of the people of this land. Without scathing writings, under the pseudonym ‘Mosafir’, through which Manik Mia portrayed thoughts of the masses in simple language and acted as a catalyst in connecting the masses with the political leadership in the ongoing mass struggle, the success achieved in politics was far from certain. That is why Manik Mia and Ittefaq have repeatedly had to face the eyes of the then anti-people governments in Pakistan. Despite being just a journalist, Manik Mia had been repeatedly imprisoned like a political leader. Sometimes, even Ittefaq and other newspapers in the group, had been shut down.
But Manik Mia was a fearless, greedless, uncompromising journalist. He did not take journalism as a livelihood or a profession, but as a unique opportunity to serve the masses. That is why we see that the offer of ministry in the United Front government did not attract him. Neither the tyranny nor the temptation of the dictator could shake him from the pen war he was waging for democracy and the rights of the people of this land.
Clearly, the role of fearless and self-sacrificing pen soldiers like Manik Mia was no less important than the political leadership in shaping public opinion for the independence of this country. The platform that was built through their joint efforts was the driving force of the great war of independence. The country became independent, although Manik Mia did not have the good fortune to see it. How much of the dream, to which the great personalities like Manik Mia devoted to their entire lives, have been achieved? The country today has a huge collection of newspapers and electronic media, but how far do we pass with the standard of fearless, uncompromising, people-oriented journalism that Manik Mia has left for us as an example by sniffing out imprisonment, oppression, and temptation?

(Dr Muhsin is Professor of Pharmacy, Jahangirnagar University).