Badrul Huda Sohel :
The New Nation, the oldest daily in the country, has witnessed many remarkable events that happened in the previous year now observing its 43rd anniversary in 2022. With publishing current news and views, this newspaper has become a constant company of our life, happiness and sorrow, as it was in the past. The period between the 42nd and 43rd founding anniversaries amid the global crisis of corona virus and the Russia-Ukraine war as well, the New Nation has always been a vanguard to uphold the value it maintains for people’s journalism.
Russia-Ukraine war has left a tremendous global crisis and as a result of which the world is experiencing a new inflation causing abnormal rise in the value of the dollar, along with the unbridled rise in the prices of daily necessaries. People of lower and lower-middle class are now struggling to pay the skyrocketing prices of daily necessities.
Untold sufferings due to power crisis are disrupting normal life which the people never faced earlier. This year, the demise of some great personalities like Akbar Ali Khan, Abul Mal Abdul Muhit, Gazi Mazharul Anwar and Masum Aziz has made the people of our country cry, just as the death of Queen Elizabeth II has also agonised the hearts of the people around the world. In spite of having all the mournful news, some things have revived us and shown us the dream of living. Covid-19, to a large extent, has come under control, especially because of the success of the free mass vaccination programme under government management. This year, on June 25, a new history of accelerating the country’s economy has been concretised through the inauguration of Padma Bridge, building with the country’s own funds. Again, Bangladeshi women footballers have lately created a new history by defeating Nepal in the final of the Women’s SAFF Championship, giving motivation to think anew about the football world of ours.
“A good newspaper is a nation talking to itself”. That the 20th century American playwright Arthur Miller conveys the profound meaning of the previous words has matched with the nature and purpose of today’s widely circulated daily, The New Nation. The New Nation, one of the foremost English dailies in the country, has been working for more than four decades, capitalising on transparency, credibility, impartiality, cherishing the great vow of responsibility in its chest.
After functioning 3 years as a weekly, The New Nation became a daily on 15 October 1981. Needless to say, it was the only independent English daily published from Dhaka at that time. Apart from The New Nation, there were two more English dailies under the then Newspaper Management Board. But The New Nation was regarded as a mirror of mass opinion and hope. Because in this paper, legendary personalities like Hasan Syed, Mahbubul Alam, ABM Musa, Fazle Rashid, Moazzem Hossain and Amanullah Kabir have served. When the country became free from the shackles of subjugation, The New Nation played an outstanding role as an English daily to consolidate and organise the country and the nation. The New Nation has always been vocal crossing the country’s borders and introduced the country in broader sense as a newly born independent one in the international arena. And by nurturing its principles and ideals, today’s The New Nation has gained a reputation as one of the national English dailies in the country. Tofazzal Hossain Manik Mia, the icon of journalism, raised a storm of protest against the exploitation, oppression and torture of the West Pakistani ruling community through his pen power before the Liberation War. Manik Mia has fought against subjugation all his life through writing to protect the hopes, aspirations and rights of freedom-loving people, and that is why his journalistic life has never been smooth and even. He was uncompromising in journalism on the question of patriotism and emancipation of the masses in spite of facing various obstacles. He was imprisoned on several grounds for violating The Martial Law imposed by Ayub Khan. Not only was he arrested for stimulating the masses in the Six-Point Movement and for playing an important role in the event, his publishing house New Nation Printing Press was also confiscated.
Manik Mia, an epitome of fair and fearless journalism, believed in a non-partisan and exploitation-free society. In his newspaper, Manik Mia has conveyed the message of the struggle and sacrifice of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman of liberating the people of Bengal from the clutches of the Pakistani ruling class. Manik Mia, therefore, had always been a source of trust and confidence in Bangabandhu.
In the twenty-first century since independence, The New Nation has gained the trust of millions of people in home and abroad through its uninterrupted, transparent, impartial and pragmatic news coverage. In the crowd of hundreds of newspapers, The New Nation is an adventurous envoy of solid truth. The paper has never shied away from conveying accurate information, avoiding subordination and external interference.
The New Nation did not stop publishing for a single day, despite all the adversities, even though a number of papers had limited or suspended their publication during the Covid-19 pandemic. The newspaper reaches people’s homes every day with news of literature, culture, politics, economy, livelihood and the latest conditions of the country.
Newspapers have always played a pivotal role in improving the quality of life and livelihood in our society. After the partition, from the Language Movement to the Liberation War, Manik Mia’s contribution is undeniable due to his journalistic writings. At present, the English daily The New Nation, under the patronage of his worthy successor, Barrister Mainul Hosein, is still working to maintain that continuity.
The prime objective of a newspaper is to find a way to liberate people from the pressure on loyalty to money, power or muscle strength towards loyalty to state. The New Nation has been a testament to its professionalism for more than four decades, beginning in the early 1980s. We firmly believe that in the days to come, The New Nation will continue to fulfil the aspirations of the nation by being generously and sincerely dedicated to the welfare of the country and the people. Congratulations and best wishes to this age-old English daily which has come a long way in 2022 on its 43rd anniversary.
(The writer is Assistant Professor and Chairman, Department of English, Ishakha International University).