Mostafa Kamal Majumder
The demise of Abdus Shahid, Joint Chief News Editor of NTV channel, and a dedicated journalist union leader on Sunday, the 23rd of August came as a great shock to me like other members of the journalist community of Dhaka. On the same day, another journalist Abul Kalam of Daily Ittefaq who was a near neighbour to me at the Journalist Residential Area Mirpur breathed his last in a Dhaka hospital.
Abdus Shahid was a journalist union leader of a different species. He was a soft-spoken man with an unassuming character even when he was holding the position of President of the Dhaka Union of Journalists. Plus he was dedicated to the profession and did never spoil time.
He along with some other union leaders of his like was keen to establish the union on a professional footing and on occasions took calculated risks. The task was difficult because the prevailing trend was to blindly submit to the dominant political forces rather than asserting the position of journalists as a respected class in society.
He did unionism at a time when the dominant political forces viewed journalists as just extensions of their party organizations and many of the journalist leaders loved to be identified like that for having lucrative shares of political loaves and fishes. Against this trend, it was extremely difficult to assert one’s position freely. But Abdus Shahid and some of his friends at least tried to change the trend without jeopardizing their leanings and identities.
He was like a younger brother to me. The relationship was on a professional plane. Both Abdus Shahid and I used to have a deep respect for Syed Mahmud Hossain of Dainik Bangla who died of heart ailments several years ago. A man of Marxist background Syed Mahmud had the ability to captivate his audience with his power of reasoning and up to date information on the socio-political situation.
Abdus Shahid has left behind not only his wife and son but also an institution of learning at his ancestral home in Laxmipur. May Allah grant him eternal peace in Jannat.
Abul Kalam who retired from the Daily Ittefaq built his abode in the journalist residential area about a decade ago and had been living here ever since. Abul Kalam was also junior to me. I did not imagine he would embrace death so soon. May Allah grant him Jannat.
