The farewell I never imagined writing

TIK.

I am in a state of shock as I write this. Forgive me, Toufique, but I could not imagine writing an obit notice for you. It makes no sense that you die at 59 while I am 75. The young have no right to go away so soon. You were supposed to write my obit notice, not me yours.

How long do we go back? I have no idea. I won’t even try to remember. But it was the media that brought us close, be it bdnews24.com, the BBC, or the many other pitches we have batted on. All these are just memories now.

I am not just an ex-colleague from bdnews24.com, where I was the executive editor, from 2012 -13. I had begun to write for bdnews24.com when I was living in Canada. When I decided to shift back, you invited me to join and I happily agreed. It was already a familiar place for me, even before I had formally started to work.

The opinion page of bdnews24.com was far and away the best in Bangladesh. And while there are many other quality pages now, bdnews24.com is still in the top tier. It’s a fantastic achievement and that was possible because you ensured quality not just by commissioning writers but by how you did so. You just let the best come to the best media opinion page in town.

The Digital Era Began with bdnews24.com

The media outlet was one of the first, if not the first to use digital space to produce news and content. Using those early technologies, bdnews24.com reached a point of confidence that no outfit could challenge. Yes, competitors arrived with far more money and resources than us, but your outfit couldn’t be shaken because you practiced something none of the others did. You were totally objective. To you, news meant the bare backbones of facts, not the manipulation fodder that now populates Dhaka’s media scene.

Even though you were the CEO, you never asked us to switch, twitch, spin or adjust any item. It never even occurred to us at the office that it should be done. You created a newsroom and an editorial bench where reporting the news as it happened, without any political or economic objective in mind, came naturally.

Early Days of Technology

I remember the early days and the meetings held with tech experts on evolving technology and how you and I would visit various meets and gatherings to discuss the coming age of digital media. There were many sceptics still hugging the idea of print, but you were right -- papers were over and a new era had arrived.

bdnews24.com wasn’t just news and features but arts, literature and every bit of media content that many consumers now take for granted. Its literary pages were fantastic and even my stories and essays were printed in those spaces. You let the quality of the content be the judge, not the politics. Once such writers understood that, they stayed away and only those who mattered, the original thinkers contributed.

When You Fought Back

And you made enemies, as was inevitable. They were powerful enough to bring charges of many sorts against you, dragging the financial health of the outfit down. But you fought back with the strength of the tiger hidden in you. You could have compromised. You didn’t. That is what true editors are made of.

Your stern profile as you spoke to the media, denying all charges, and the authorities’ failure to prove anything was a testament not just to your personal courage, but a model of what an editor must be.

The news is beyond shocking. It seems I have lost something from deep within me. We had walked together for so long and along so many paths and pavements. A bond was created that never fades. Everyone talks about the annual party at your home, the only place where I would taste hilsa on your insistence. This year I couldn’t make it. Our lives had changed, our health had changed, but you hadn’t. You also sent me all the publications and I am always reminded that some mortal ropes bind us together in a way that death cannot tear apart.

Farewell, Toufique. I have clicked on the bdnews24.com icon first every morning since it began its journey under you. I shall keep doing that until I can no longer do so. My heart breaks, but I say goodbye to you my dear colleague. My dear friend.

[Afsan Chowdhury is a Liberation War researcher, journalist, and educator]