Published : 10 Oct 2026, 07:21 PM
Updated : 10 Oct 2026, 07:21 PM
The death of Toufique Imrose Khalidi remains hard to believe for Local Government Minister Abdul Moyeen Khan.
Even as he came to pay his final respects, Khalidi’s face made him feel the journalist was still alive.
Moyeen joined friends, family, colleagues and well-wishers at the funeral prayer for the late editor-in-chief and publisher of bdnews24.com at Banani’s Old DOHS playground on Saturday.
“I did not come here to say anything, and doing so is very difficult,” he said.
Recalling their relationship, Moyeen said they first met through bdnews24.com, and their acquaintance eventually “turned into friendship”.
Highlighting Khalidi’s contribution to journalism in Bangladesh, the minister said he had pioneered a new way of delivering news over the internet, beyond the traditional print media.
Moyeen said Khalidi had helped bdnews24.com reach households across the country.
He even questioned whether widely circulated print newspapers had achieved the same reach.
“Khalidi did not limit himself to delivering news. His analyses of Bangladesh’s social, political and economic conditions will also be regarded as an important contribution,” he said.
Recalling his reaction to the news of Khalidi’s death, Moyeen said: “When I received the news of his death, I was stunned. Even now, I cannot believe it. When I looked at his face a little while ago, I felt as though he had come alive and was standing before me.”
The BNP Standing Committee member prayed for the salvation of Khalidi’s soul.
Khalidi suddenly fell ill on the night of Oct 1 while visiting London privately.
He was taken to St Bartholomew’s Hospital, where doctors found that he had suffered a brain haemorrhage. He was pronounced dead at 2:23pm local time the following day.
A funeral prayer was held at Brick Lane Jamme Masjid in East London after midday prayers on Oct 8, attended by former colleagues and members of the local Bangladeshi community.
His body arrived at Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka on a Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight at around 11am on Saturday.
The coffin was taken to the grounds of bdnews24.com’s Mohakhali office, where it remained from noon until 12:20pm.
His body was then taken home, where family members and relatives paid their final respects, before being moved to the Old DOHS playground for the funeral prayer.
Khalidi was buried at the Martyred Intellectuals’ Graveyard in Mirpur at around 5pm.
