Matiur Rahman Chowdhury

Matiur Rahman Chowdhury is a Bangladeshi journalist, editor and talk-show host. He is the editor-in-chief of the Manab Zamin,[1] a Bengali language tabloid newspaper. Chowdhury also reports for Voice of America (Bangla) as a correspondent.[2] He has hosted a late night chat-show, Ajker Sangbadpatra, on Channel i, a privately owned broadcast channel, since 2005.[3]

Matiur Rahman Chowdhury
OccupationJournalist
Spouse(s)Mahbuba Chowdhury
ChildrenMehzeb Chowdhury
AwardsAnanda Alo Purashkar

He also hosted another political chat-show, called Frontline, on Banglavision, before it was suspended citing "technical problems".[4] However, several journalists including Chowdhury claimed that authorities were behind the closure.[5]

Chowdhury serves as treasurer of the Newspaper Owners' Association of Bangladesh (NOAB)[6] and a member of Editors' Council,[7] an organisation of newspaper editors in the country. In addition, Chowdhury is a member of the governing body of Association for Social Advancement,[8] a micro-credit financing organisation. He was an editor for the now-defunct Bangla Bazar Patrika,[9] a broadsheet newspaper based in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Chowdhury participated in Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971 and was tortured by the Pakistan Army in his native Moulvibazar District.[10]

Personal life

Chowdhury is married to Mahbuba Chowdhury, a poet, journalist, and news presenter.[11] Their only son, Mehzeb Chowdhury,[12] is a barrister and a forensic science and criminal investigation researcher.[13]

Career

Chowdhury began his career in journalism as a correspondent with Daily Banglar Bani, co-founded and edited by Sheikh Fazlul Haque Mani, a nephew of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Bangladesh's founding father, shortly after the country became independent, according to an article he wrote for Manab Zamin.[14] Having obtained the university degree, he soon became a staff reporter at Daily Banglar Bani. In 1974, he was fired from the paper allegedly on the instruction of the authorities, according to a short biography.[15]

He later worked at Purba Desh, Daily Desh Bangla as a chief reporter, and then at The Sangbad. In 1980, his press accreditation was allegedly revoked by the government.

In 1982, he joined The Daily Ittefaq, where he worked as its diplomatic correspondent for 10 years. He covered the Gulf War for Ittefaq from Hafar Al-Batin, Saudi Arabia. As the first Bangladeshi journalist, he covered 1990 FIFA World Cup and subsequent tournaments as well. In the early nineties, he joined Ajker Kagoj as associate editor but resigned shortly afterwards.

In 1994, he founded Bangla Bazar Patrika as its editor. In 1995, he wrote an article in the vernacular daily implicating BNP politician Morshed Khan, then a special adviser to Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, in a banking scandal. In response, Khan brought a case against Chowdhury, resulting in his arrest and subsequent bail.[16]

In 1997, he founded Manab Zamin as its editor-in-chief.[17]

In 2000, the tabloid ran the transcript of an implicating phone conversation between Hussain Muhammad Ershad, a former president, and a High Court judge, Latifur Rahman, who was overseeing the former's graft case.[18] The publication of the recording triggered a judicial investigation. The court, however, held Chowdhury for contempt of court and awarded him six months of prison sentence, which was stayed on appeal.[19]

In 2006, he was accused of playing down the revelation of terror plots in Britain as "the game of the British government" in the Aajker Sangbadpatra programme he hosted in Channel.[20]

In 2009, an Awami League politician filed a Tk. 100 crore defamatory case against three journalists including Chowdhury for publishing "a false report".[21]

On 9 March 2020, Chowdhury and 31 others, was sued by a ruling Awami League lawmaker for a story his newspaper ran about a sex ring operated out of a luxury hotel in Dhaka,[22] triggering responses from Amnesty International,[23] Human Rights Watch,[24] and other press organizations.[25] He maintained that the story did not have any reference of the said lawmaker. The high court later granted him bail.[26]

Politics

Chowdhury was elected the vice president of Moulvibazar College student union. He was associated with Bangladesh Chhatra League, the student wing of Bangladesh Awami League, and acted as the organisation's central books and publications secretary.[27]

Books

Chowdhury published three books: Inside Politics, Palashi Theke Baghdad, Kutnitir Andarmahal.[28]

gollark: Also, search seems to be broken, it always returns no results.
gollark: I just got "Error creating thumbnail: /bin/bash: /usr/bin/convert: No such file or directory Error code: 127" after uploading a file on the wiki?
gollark: Amazing how the prices keep falling like crazy.
gollark: No, you actually can get a 240GB SSD for £20 nowadays.
gollark: A SSD costs £20 or so now.

References
  1. "Daily Manab Zamin:: The World's First and Largest Circulated Bengali Tabloid Daily". Manab Zamin. Retrieved 2018-10-17.
  2. "More BDR Soldiers Go on Trial for 2009 Mutiny". Voice of America Bangla. Feb 10, 2013. Retrieved 2020-04-04.
  3. সংবাদপত্র নিয়ে মধ্যরাতের টাটকা আয়োজন ‘আজকের সংবাদপত্র’-এর যুগপূর্তি আজ. Manab Zamin (in Bengali). Retrieved 2020-04-04.
  4. "TV talk show Frontline goes off air". New Age. 2015-02-09.
  5. ohab1. "Mission Journal: Bangladeshi press reined in as Hasina exerts authority". cpj.org. Retrieved 2020-04-04.
  6. "9th Wage Board for journalist, staff formed". New Age.
  7. "Digital Security Act: Editors' Council to hold press conference on Saturday". Dhaka Tribune. 11 October 2018.
  8. "Governing Body". ASA Bangladesh. Retrieved 2018-10-17.
  9. "Matiur Rahman Chowdhury Vs. Commissioner of Taxes, Dhaka, 14 MLR (AD) (2009) 305 - the Lawyers and Jurists".
  10. মতিউর রহমান চৌধুরী Motiur Rahman Chowdhury. Porua (in Bengali). Retrieved 2018-12-07.
  11. "Mahbuba Chowdhury: A woman of many talents". New Age. Retrieved 2020-04-04.
  12. "DHAKA BAR ASSOCIATION". dhakabarassociation.com. Retrieved 2020-04-04.
  13. "Mehzeb Chowdhury". The Conversation. Retrieved 2018-12-07.
  14. মণি ভাই বেঁচে থাকলে দেখতেন..... Manab Zamin (in Bengali).
  15. মতিউর রহমান চৌধুরী Motiur Rahman Chowdhury. Porua (in Bengali).
  16. Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Report Submitted to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, U.S. House of Representatives and Committee on Foreign Relations, U.S. Senate by the Department of State in Accordance with Sections 116(d) and 502B(b) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as Amended. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1995.
  17. "Manab Zamin stops printing on slumping sales amid coronavirus crisis". bdnews24.com. Retrieved 2020-04-04.
  18. United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. "Refworld | Reporters Without Borders Annual Report 2003 - Bangladesh". Refworld. Retrieved 2020-04-04.
  19. Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Report Submitted to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, U.S. House of Representatives and Committee on Foreign Relations, U.S. Senate by the Department of State in Accordance with Sections 116(d) and 502B(b) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as Amended. U.S. Government Printing Office. 2002.
  20. "Voice of America Correspondent Spouts Radical Propaganda". Asian Tribune. Retrieved 2020-04-04.
  21. ":: BCDJC ::". bcdjc.com. Retrieved 2020-04-04.
  22. "Manabzamin editor, 31 others sued under Digital Security Act". The Daily Star. 2020-03-10. Retrieved 2020-04-04.
  23. "Amnesty urges govt to drop case against Manabzamin editor,..." UNB. Retrieved 2020-04-04.
  24. "Bangladesh: Urgently Locate Missing Journalist". Human Rights Watch. 2020-03-13. Retrieved 2020-04-04.
  25. "Editors' Council concerned by digital security case against Manab Zamin Editor Matiur, 31 others". bdnews24.com. Retrieved 2020-04-04.
  26. "HC grants bail to Manabzamin editor". Dhaka Tribune. 2020-03-18.
  27. মণি ভাই বেঁচে থাকলে দেখতেন..... Manab Zamin (in Bengali). Retrieved 2018-12-07.
  28. "Motiur Rahman Chowdhury Books: মতিউর রহমান চৌধুরী এর বই সমূহ". Rokomari.com. Retrieved 2018-12-07.
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