Manik Mia’s 54th Death Anniversary today
Staff Reporter :
The 54th death anniversary of Tofazzal Hossain Manik Mia, the legendary journalist and founder editor of the daily Ittefaq, will be observed in a befitting manner today (Thursday).
To mark the occasion, Daily Ittefaq, The New Nation, Weekly Robber and Manik Mia Foundation will organise Doa Mahfil separately.
His eldest son Barrister Mainul Hosein and younger son Anwar Hossain Manju, as well as other family members and relatives will offer Fatiha at Manik Mia’s grave in the city’s Azimpur Graveyard.
Apart from this, different organisations have chalked out various programmes to commemorate the legacy of Manik Mia and the immense contribution he had made for the independence of
Bangladesh through his prolific writings.
Manik Mia was a towering personality in the media world who fought throughout his career as a publisher, editor and political thinker, specially symbolising the power of press to mobilise public awareness for freedom and good governance.
His columns in The Daily Ittefaq as its founder-editor were most popular among the people and equally powerful and thought evoking to the government.
He was able to establish journalism as a force to reckon with by the government and as a vehicle of socio-political change. He enjoyed all round respectability for his honesty and developing true journalism for the people.
Manik Mia, a relentless fighter for the cause of Bengali nationalism, created a new flow of journalism by his gossip column ‘Musafir’ and took the message of freedom to people to prepare for independence.
His editorial Rajnoitik Moncho (The Political Stage) had made a remarkable wave in political arena during pro-people movements.
He not only founded The Daily Ittefaq, he also led the way of publishing The New Nation as an independent English newspaper to guide the struggle for democracy and for upholding the rights of the people.
Manik Mia represented the power of the fourth pillar of the state- the power of the press- setting a remarkable example for the journalists.
He will always be remembered by the people of Bangladesh and live in their hearts as the fighter for their freedom against autocracy.
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.