Mostafa Kamal Majumder
The demise of Veteran journalist ABM Musa on Wednesday cast a pall of gloom in the journalist community of Bangladesh as among the conscious section of the people across the country. He had been suffering from various complications for the last few months. Before breathing his last ABM Musa was on life support at the Lab Aid hospital for a day. Apart from his old age of 85 he had complications arising from his heart bypass operation done about five years ago. He looked weak and feeble for about a year, but the indomitable spirit inside remained as strong as before.ABM Musa had come to limelight in the profession in the sixties as the news editor of the then The Pakistan Observer which closed down several years ago as The Bangladesh Observer. A man of strong convictions and iron will, he had an ideal professional environment at the paper owned by the late Hamidul Huq Chowdhury who is regarded as the most graceful an celebrated entrepreneur in the arena of print journalism in the country. Plus he worked under the guidance of Abdul Salam, the doyen of journalism in Bangladesh. Observer was the most popular newspaper in Dhaka and had fomented the movement for autonomy of the then East Pakistan. The movement for autono0my in time turned into the movement for self-rule and finally independence through the nine-month war in 1971.
In one of his many conversations with this journalist Musa Bhai said during the hay-day of observer some political colleagues told Hamidul Huq Chowdhury that his paper covered more news items of the Awami League than those of his own political platform. Chowdhury called ABM Musa to his room and sought to know why. ‘I flatly told him, people read AL’s news’ and hardly bother about the news related to Chowdhury’s political platform. The legendary entrepreneur did not ask a second question, and instead told his political comrades to mind the evaluation. Musa Bhai was also lucky in the sense that the big people who later emerged as legends themselves worked under him as reporters or sub-editors. Foremost among them were Shahidul Huq, AZM Enayatullah Khan, Ataus Samad, Abdur Rahim, Fazle Rashid Yousuf Jamal Ahad and Mahbubul Alam Chowdhury.
After the independence of Bangladesh Musa Bhai became the editor of now defunct The Morning News and in 1973 was elected Member of Parliament on an Awami League ticket. ABM Musa worked for the BBC and the Sunday Times of London as stringer, and served the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific before becoming the director general of the Press Institute of Bangladesh and then the chief editor and managing director of official news agency – Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha. He was also elected president of the National Press Club, Dhaka. Like all great men he had his admirers as well as critics. But people of all shades of opinion knew that he was candid in his statements, people who went close to him could count on him for shelter and support as far as he could offer.
In the profession Musa Bhai was never a soft spoken person. He used to be rude with those who neglected work or could not deliver up to his expectation. But his passion for standards used to keep the journalists working under him on their toes and deliver what he wanted. The Observer flourished at the hard labour of ABM Musa and his team under the wise guidance of Abdus Salam, who also was his father-in-law. During the fag end of his career he used to write profusely for Bangla newspapers upholding his own views and interpretation of events and issues. He used to give fearless commentary of events whenever he was interviewed at times of political turmoil during the last few years. Many people at the helm of affairs including former president HM Ershad and Gen Moeen U Ahmed are learnt to have tried to get his favour to promote their own causes. Musa Bhai maintained his dignified distance and entity as a journalist in responding to their overtures.
It’s therefore no wonder that he used to be treated with respect from almost all corners. Through his six decades of dedicated work the Ekushey Padal laureate had really turned into an iconic figure in the profession. One only hopes his example inspires present day members of the profession to serve the people by rising above divisive trends that not only bedevil the body-politic but also make real issues of life – food, shelter, health, education, jobs, democracy, law and order, human rights, development priorities, distributive justice and the environment – escape serious attention and scrutiny that a most needed for efficient perusal and good governance.
(The writer is the Editor of GreenWatch Dhaka)
