Nirmal Sen (August 3, 1930 – January 8, 2013) was a Bangladeshi journalist and politician.

Early life

Sen was born on 3 August 1930 in Dighirpar village,

Kotalipara Upazila Kotalipara ( bn, কোটালীপাড়া) is an upazila of Gopalganj District in the Division of Dhaka, Bangladesh. Geography Kotalipara is located at . It has 37,603 households and a total area of 362.05 km2. It is a '' mofussil'' ...

, Gopalganj District, East Bengali, British India. In 1942, he became active in student politics while in grade nine. He graduated from Barisal BM College. He did his undergraduate and master's from the

University of Dhaka The University of Dhaka (also known as Dhaka University, or DU) is a public research university located in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It is the oldest university in Bangladesh. The university opened its doors to students on July 1st 1921. Currently i ...

. He was a member of the Revolutionary Socialist Party in Kolkata.

Career

Sen joined Dainik Jehad in 1956. He also worked at

The Daily Ittefaq ''The Daily Ittefaq'' ( bn, দৈনিক ইত্তেফাক, translit. ''Doinik Ittefak'') is a Bengali-language daily newspaper. Founded in 1953, it is the oldest newspaper, and one of the most circulated newspapers in Bangladesh. Thi ...

, Dainik Pakistan (later renamed

Dainik Bangla ''Dainik Bangla'' is a Bengali-language daily newspaper in Bangladesh. The newspaper was closed in 1997 and was later revived on 4 September 2022 by an editorial panel led by Nazrul Islam Mazumder and Chowdhury Nafeez Sharafat. History ''Dainik P ...

). From 1971 to 1972, Sen was the President of

Dhaka Union of Journalists The Dhaka Union of Journalists () is a trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment" ...

. From 1972 to 1978, Sen was the president of

Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists The Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists () is a national trade union federation of professional journalists in Bangladesh and is located in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It is aligned with the left wing political party, Bangladesh Awami League ...

. He was a member of the

Jatiya Press Club Jatiya Press Club is the professional club for journalists of Bangladesh located in the capital Dhaka. The current president is Farida Yasmin and the General Secretary is Elias Khan. History The Jatiya Press Club was founded in 1954 as the Ea ...

. In the 1980s, Sen led the Sramik-Krishak Samajbadi Dal, a left wing political party, Sen was the President of Gonotantrik Biplobi Party. The Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists and Dhaka Union of Journalists demanded the government send Sen abroad for medical treatment on 27 October 2003 after he had suffered stroke and was admitted to

Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) is a graduate medical university in Bangladesh. It was established in 1965. The university offers postgraduate degrees only, not offering undergraduate medical or dental degrees. History Est ...

. Tariqul Islam, Minister of Information, and

Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan (; 3 January 1943 – 28 July 2010) was a Bangladeshi politician of Bangladesh Nationalist Party. Early life Bhuiyan was born on 3 January 1943, at his maternal grandfather's house at Asad Nagar village under Mashimpur Un ...

, Minister of Local Government, Rural Development and Co-operatives, visited him in the hospital. He was sent to

Mount Elizabeth Hospital Mount Elizabeth Hospital, known colloquially as Mount E, is a 345-bed private hospital in Singapore operated by Parkway Health. Construction began in 1976 and the hospital officially opened on 8 December 1979. The hospital specialises in cardi ...

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

for treatment. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, M Morshed Khan, and the ambassador of Bangladesh to Singapore, Munshi Faiz Ahmed, visited him at the hospital. In February 2004, Sen's Sramik Krishak Samajbadi Dal met with

Awami League In Urdu language, Awami is the adjectival form for '' Awam'', the Urdu language word for common people. The adjective appears in the following proper names: *Awami Colony, a neighbourhood of Landhi Town in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan *Awami Front, wa ...

to talk about forming a coalition. He was active in the National Committee for Protection of Power-Port and Oil-Gas Resources. Sen presided over a meeting of the Left Democratic Front on 26 December 2005, which called on the government to provided subsidized fertilizer to farmers. Sen chaired a meeting of the Left Democratic Front in June 2006 which called for the resignation of the Election Commissioners of

Bangladesh Election Commission The Bangladesh Election Commission ( bn, বাংলাদেশ নির্বাচন কমিশন), abbreviated and publicly referred to as EC, is an independent constitutional body that operates the legal functions of election laws i ...

Death

Sen was paralyzed after a stoke in 2011. He was suffering from pneumonia before his death. Sen died on 8 January 2013 in LabAid Hospital, Dhaka, Bangladesh. He body was donated for research per his wish. Comrade Nirmal Sen Memorial National Committee organizes events in his memory. Journalist Nirmal Sen Auditorium was named after him in Dhaka.

References

1930 births 2013 deaths People from Gopalganj District, Bangladesh University of Dhaka alumni Brojomohun College alumni bn:নির্মল সেন {{Bangladesh-politician-stub