Published : 10 Dec 2021, 10:38 PM
'Serajuddin Hossain and Contemporary Journalism' (Noor et al, 2020) – a reflection on the political and journalistic contribution of Serajuddin Hossain vis-a-vis the independence of Bangladesh.
The military regime of Pakistan and their allied Islamic fundamentalist forces continued the killings of Bengali intellectuals as a part of their genocidal crimes even during the last few days before the independence of Bangladesh on Dec 16, 1971. Many professionals including journalists were picked up illegally by force only to kill them later in some secret places. During those dark days under the occupation of the Pakistan military, Bangladesh lost a prominent journalist named Serajuddin Hossain. He was forcibly taken away from his residence by the allied Islamic fundamentalist force of the Pakistan army called Al-Badr on Dec 10, 1971. In 1971, the Al-Badr members belonging to Islami Chhatra Sangha (the student branch of Jamaat-e-Islami) targeted many intellectuals including Serajuddin Hossain only to eliminate them from this world. The people of Bangladesh cannot forget the genocide and those painful killings of the intellectuals committed by the Pakistani military regime and their affiliated Islamic fundamentalist forces.
Today's Bangladesh stands because of the visionary works and sacrifices made by steadfast and dedicated intellectuals like Serajuddin Hossain. The contribution of journalist Serajuddin Hossain on creating the movement for the emancipation of the people of then East Bengal (also known as East Pakistan) was recognised by many in their writings (Sarwar, 2018 and Hossain, 2013). As revealed, Serajuddin Hossain's works on promoting Bengali nationalism including language movement and six-point demand spanned many years before the independence of Bangladesh. Serajuddin Hossain's intellectually capable sons compiled and edited a book (Noor et al., 2020) titled সিরাজুদ্দীন হোসেন ও সমকালীন রাজনীতি (in English: Serajuddin Hossain and Contemporary Journalism (translation mine)). This book accentuated his words and works that significantly helped the movement for the independence of Bangladesh under the leadership of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. The authors provided many valuable and relevant information about Serajuddin Hossain and included remarks about his achievements from his close associates (KG Mustafa, Abdul Gaffar Chowdhury, MR Akhtar Mukul, Zahur Hussain Chowdhury, Waheedul Haq, Shamsul Arefin Khan, ABM Musa, Rahat Khan, Tofail Ahmed, Nur-e-Alam Siddiqui et al.).
The authors (Noor et al., 2020) provided accounts of Serajuddin Hossain's journalistic excellence based on the speeches of the panelists in the discussion program held in Dhaka Sirdap Auditorium on December 26, 2001. The book includes a pivotal lecture and presentation that was made by a leading speaker KG Mustafa on the journalistic research and activities performed by Serajuddin Hossain on the political events that led to the independence of Bangladesh. KG Mustafa discussed Serajuddin Hossain's relentless efforts to portray the political impasse of those days with eloquence in the print media. KG Mustafa brought up the extraordinary capability that Serajuddin Hossain had in providing meaningful captions and titles with brevity and clarity to signify the importance of the news during those politically hectic days in the 1960s. He informed how Serajuddin Hossain reported the news of the defeat of the Muslim League in 1954 with a catchy caption "Fall of a Notorious Star from the Political Sky of East Bengal" (translation mine). The choice of words appropriately and accurately simulated the demise of the Muslim League in the eastern wing of Pakistan. In the book, many contributors revealed that Serajuddin Hossain had impressive faculties ranging from selecting appropriate, meaningful and appealing captions to the narration of the contents of the news reports. Some of the discussants were his colleagues who worked in close contact with him. They graciously divulged information on Serajuddin Hossain's hard work not for his own professional advancement and fortune but for the advancement of the causes of the Bengalis who were going through repression incessantly under the military regime of Pakistan. His colleagues and associates knew him as someone who was not searching for his joie de vivre. He selflessly and courageously continued focusing on the propagation of the news and editorial analysis on the repression of the Bengalis by the Pakistani military rulers.
As a renowned political journalist, he was searching for ways to support the demands of the Bengalis by disregarding his own comfort. A distinguished journalist Rahat Khan recalled the initiation of investigative journalism by Serajuddin Hossain during the days of East Pakistan. Serajuddin Hossain was deservedly recognised and he was given an award by the International Press Institute for his pioneering role in investigative journalism at that time. Unfortunately, he could not able to receive the award in person because the regime of Pakistan did not provide his passport on time. ABM Musa received his award on his behalf. An eminent journalist Abdul Gaffar Chowdhury mentioned that the Jukto-Front victory against Muslim League in East Bengal was accelerated as a result of the dissemination of the details by Serajuddin Hossain on the misrule of the Muslim League-military alliance of Pakistan.
It was disclosed by KG Mustafa that Serajuddin Hossain was able to reach an exalted rank as a prominent news editor and that's why President Ayub Khan became eager to offer him a chief editor position in the government-controlled daily Pakistan newspaper. Serajuddin Hossain was not a bon vivant and as a selfless person, he declined such lucrative offer only to maintain his principles. Barrister Mainul Hosein mentioned Serajuddin Hossain's writings of 1971 that were too risky to publish at that point in time. Starting from the Language Movement to the Liberation War in 1971, Serajuddin Hossain had a clear concept of the political events and he used to propagate his understandings eloquently to the public in general and to the political workers in particular. On the whole, as an intellectual, Serajuddin Hossain enabled Bengalis to think about their political status and make them aware of the need for freedom from the despotic military regime of Pakistan. Well-known leaders Tofail Ahmed and Nur-e-Alam Siddiqui acknowledged this during their speeches delivered to the audience on Dec 26, 2001.
Serajuddin Hossain's close association with Tofazzal Hossain Manik Miah (a renowned editor) and Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (the founding father of Bangladesh) helped advance the movements to fulfil the rights of the Bengalis at a critical point of time in the history of Bangladesh. These great personalities worked together in a coherent fashion to make Pakistan free from the communal forces at various stages in those eventful days in the 1950s and 1960s. They were able to get rid of the pan-Islamism based Muslim League from Bangladesh (then East Pakistan) through the election held in 1954. Serajuddin Hossain celebrated and continued writing in his columns on the disgraceful fall of the Muslim League from the political horizon of East Bengal. ABM Musa portrayed Serajuddin Hossain as someone who not only enhanced the quality of journalism but also enhanced the quality of politics despite many restrictions imposed by the military regime of Pakistan. As mentioned in the book, Manik Miah advanced with his newspaper as an institution for supporting Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and Awami League to fulfil the demands of the people of East Pakistan. It was possible because of the creative contribution of a prominent political savant and an intellectual thinker like Serajuddin Hossain.
Noor et al. (2020) revealed that both Serajuddin Hossain and Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman were friends since the days in the 1940s when both were students of Calcutta Islamia College. Their friendship along with trust, confidence, and reliance on each other helped shape the movements against the fascist rule imposed by the military dictators of Pakistan. As the news editor, Serajuddin Hossain took risks by publishing Bangabandhu's statements against the military rule and the demands of the Bengalis for the autonomy of East Bengal (East Pakistan). He fearlessly published the news on the brutal riot in 1950 while he was working with the daily Azad. KG Mustafa narrated Serajuddin Hossain's concerns about resisting the riots unleashed on the minority Hindus. Serajuddin Hossain personally helped two of their Hindu colleagues to save them from the rage of the rioters.
During the language movement, Serajuddin Hossain courageously published reports on the killings despite restrictions he had while working with the daily Azad newspaper. Those publications helped reduce the popularity of the Muslim League into the nadir in East Pakistan. Serajuddin Hossain used his gifted abilities on writing editorials in the daily Ittefaq using metaphors against the rule under martial law in Pakistan while the editors of other newspapers remained silent because of the possibility of harsh reprisals by military rulers. In 1964, there were riots perpetrated by the communal forces in the Adamjee Jute Mill, in the adjacent areas, and in Dhaka City. In that context, a meeting including progressive political leaders and journalists was held. A committee was formed to work for creating resistance against the riots. Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Serajuddin Hossain, and Abdul Gaffar Chowdhury took a leading role in creating awareness against the mayhem created by the rioters in 1964. This is an example of how the Bengali political leaders and the journalists worked in a collaborative fashion to resist the communal forces during the days of Pakistan.
After the declaration of the famous six-point demand in West Pakistan, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman met with Serajuddin Hossain and Tofazzal Hossain Manik Miah to convince both of them of the movement started off by Awami League. Tofazzal Hossain Manik Miah did not want to go along with it in the first instance but Serajuddin Hossain agreed almost instantly and continued providing support through his editorials and news reports in the Daily Ittefaq. The compelling and well thought out analysis of the rationale for six-point demand by Serajuddin Hossain in the Daily Ittefaq helped create overwhelming support from the people that ultimately served as the basis for the independence of Bangladesh under the leadership of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. The whole country aligned with the Awami League on six-point demand and the role of Serajuddin Hossain and Ittefaq in this regard should remain shining in the history of Bangladesh.
Following the sudden demise of Tofazzal Hossain Manik Miah, Serajuddin Hossain carried on the mission of Ittefaq. Barrister Amirul Islam mentioned that while Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy was on his way to go abroad for treatment after his release from the jail in Pakistan, he told his close associates: "I am leaving you a pen for Tofazzal Hossain Manik Miah and a (political) field for Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Do not separate the pen and the field." He implied that the Daily Ittefaq under Tofazzal Hossain Manik Miah and Awami League under Sheikh Mujibur Rahman should work together to free the country from the clutches of the military junta of Pakistan. Serajuddin Hossain helped keep Tofazzal Hossain Manik Miah's pen and Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's political field together. Shaheen Reza Noor recounted the freedom that Serajuddin Hossain enjoyed as the news editor under the leadership of Tofazzal Hossain Manik Miah in the daily Ittefaq. Serajuddin Hossain earned Tofazzal Hossain Manik Miah's trust because of his extraordinary intellectual abilities. Serajuddin Hossain also had high esteem for Tofazzal Hossain Manik Miah which he revealed in his book "Look into the Mirror". In this book, Serajuddin Hossain identified Tofazzal Hossain Manik Miah as his guide and philosopher. Shaheen Reza Noor encouraged all to look into the mirror of history and implied to identify the roles of those great souls who worked and sacrificed all the times in the past in a harmonious fashion for establishing the rights of the Bengalis that eventually helped achieve the independence of Bangladesh.
After reading the book on Serajuddin Hossain, one can find how painfully a bright mind was lost in the hands of the killer Jamaat-e-Islami and Pakistani forces only days before the independence of Bangladesh. The history of Bangladesh sans the chronicles of the sacrifices of the intellectuals will remain incomplete. The progress and sustenance of the progress of Bangladesh cannot be ensured if the generations of Bengalis remain indifferent to the history of the intellectuals and all others who sacrificed and gave their lives for the causes of the freedom of the people of Bangladesh. This book and other related books on the liberation war should be included as materials for study in the courses at all levels in Bangladesh academia. In the USA, the students studying even in the technical fields of engineering and medical science have to take university-level non-technical courses including American history. Professor Muntasir Mamun wrote extensively on the need for the inclusion of Bangladesh history of the Liberation War in the courses from early to higher education levels. The generations of Bengalis should know the history of the vicious forces of darkness who killed and tried to suppress the lights emanating from the intellectuals like Serajuddin Hossain. The authors Noor et al. (2020) did a superb job in compiling the contribution of Serajuddin Hossain that laid down the foundations of the movements at different stages for the independence of Bangladesh. The information provided in this book are highly valuable and it will remain as a great reference on the history of Bangladesh for the current generation and for all future generations to come.
References
Hossain Kamal, 2013. Bangladesh Quest for Justice and Freedom. https://songramernotebook.com/archives/383641
Noor Shaheen Reza, Noor Saleem Reza, and Noor Zaheed Reza, 2020. Chandrabati Academy, Dhaka, Bangladesh. 215p.
Sarwar Mostafa, 2018. Martyred editor Serajuddin Hossain and the Bangladesh revolution. Bdnews24.com, December 10.