United News of Bangladesh

So, the ultimate noisy, brattish, flippant, hyper serious Saleem Samad is gone. To the world he was the fearless journalist and media activist but to us he was our old from Shaheen school, batch of 1969. He was the same person all his life, not serious it would seem except for matters that really mattered to him but always a friend, always acting as if life was a party of old friends where he could make the most noise. The hot Ovaltine in the CHT story School days were simpler for all of us where the world was so limited and safe but life changed after SSC exams as we all drifted to different institutions and destinations. Saleem was not the kind to climb educational ladders and he ended up as a journalist which truly suited him. If anything, it was tailor made for him and he chased stories, did interviews and wrote them in his slightly off grammar English that was soon gathering attention. He walked the ranks with various English dailies and was soon a name known to many. He made his name in the late 70s with a report on the Shanti Bahini insurrection having found contacts to take him there in the CHT hills. It came out in the Bangla version of the  Ittefaq group – Weekly Robbar- and that brought him great fame and familiarity. I would tease him about his story content where he mentioned drinking hot Ovaltine offered by the SB and all that. It was a great story and Saleem even had to undergo interrogation by the authorities for his trip and all that but he survived and went on with his work merrily. At Bangladesh Today and Dhaka Courier We met as colleagues at Bangladesh Today in the early 80s, a superbly produced and written monthly that had many old and new friends involved. It was one of the best English mags in the country and caught everyone’s immediate attention. The guy-in-charge was Syed Mahmud Ali who later joined the BBC and a host of young and mid- level journos worked and chatted there. Subrata Dhar, Nadeem Quadir, Zahed Khan, Belal Chowdhury, Kalam Mahmud,  Hasan Ferdous, Saleem and myself were some names in the crowd. Most were contributors but we all became part of a team that pushed a work of excellence.   What was most fun was of course the eternal adda we all had where Saleem would get his legs pulled really hard. It bred relationships that never died and after so many years many recalled those happy days… I left in 1984 to join Dhaka Courier and soon Saleem also became a regular contributor there. However, I lead a bit of a peripatetic life and left in 1986 to join the UN though my links with the media remained. And with Saleem too, The jailed journalist Saleem did full time jobs, part time ones too but all were within the media world. His reputation grew as did his freelancing work. In 2002, while freelancing for an international media outfit, Saleem was arrested for ‘anti-state “activities and in jail for over 2 months. He was finally released after his arrest became an international cause for media freedom everywhere. Not only did many speak up about him but he himself became an activist and remained so for the rest of his life. It was truly a game changing episode of his life. Saleem remained active in the media freedom sector and when we both met in Toronto in 2007, Saleem was running an online portal but also active as a media freedom pusher. That had become his profile and allowed Saleem to push his causes. By the time we both returned after declining to be Canadian citizens, Saleem had gained a global media activist profile. Later life His later years were full of many activisms, column writings and social activities. He was a keen Shaheen school alumni activist and made many new friends from new generations. That’s where I last met him. We talked as two ancient friends do. He had muscle and pain issues and even entered the CRP a couple of times. We last chatted on the phone a couple of months back  about his aches and pains and that was that. And then this news. I am still struggling to process it.. So how does one say goodbye to a friend of 60+ years? Briefly, I hope. So farewell old friend till we meet again in the great newsroom up there where nothing including news making  ever ends. Best wishes