Shahadat Chowdhury (28 July 1943 – 29 November 2005) was a Bangladeshi journalist and editor of several news magazines. He served as the editor of

Weekly Bichitra Bichitra is a defunct weekly literary magazine. It was owned by the Government of Bangladesh and edited by Shahadat Chowdhury. The magazine has been described as a historic milestone and a pioneering magazine. History Fazal Shahabuddin is the fo ...

from 1972 until its publication was ceased in 1997. He then served as the editor of Shaptahik 2000 and Anandadhara. In 1993, he was awarded the

Ekushey Padak Ekushey Padak ( bn, একুশে পদক; lit. "Twentyfirst Award") is the second highest civilian award in Bangladesh, introduced in memory of the martyrs of the Bengali Language Movement of 1952. The award is given to recognize contribut ...

, the state's second highest civilian honor, for his outstanding contribution to journalism.

Early life

Chowdhury was one of the 12 children of Abdul Haq Chowdhury, a district judge, and Jahanara Chowdhury. Chowdhury completed his matriculation from Dhaka Graduate High School and bachelor's in painting from the

Institute of Fine Arts The Institute of Fine Arts (IFA) of New York University is dedicated to graduate teaching and advanced research in the history of art, archaeology and the conservation and technology of works of art. It offers Master of Arts and Doctor of Philoso ...

Career

Chowdhury was the editor of ''Kachi-Kanchar Asar'', the children page of

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 ...

in 1961. He was the travelogue writer of ''Kachi Kanchar Mela'', a children's cultural organisation in the then

East Pakistan East Pakistan was a Pakistani province established in 1955 by the One Unit Scheme, One Unit Policy, renaming the province as such from East Bengal, which, in modern times, is split between India and Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India ...

. Chowdhury joined as the founding editor of the journal of Media World group Shaptahik 2000. Chowdhury took part in

Sector 2 Sector 2 ( ro, Sectorul 2) is an administrative unit of Bucharest. Demographics Sector 2 is the city's most multicultural sector. In particular, it contains Romania's largest community of Chinese people, who mainly live in the districts of C ...

and was a member of Crack Platoon of the

1971 liberation war The Bangladesh Liberation War ( bn, মুক্তিযুদ্ধ, , also known as the Bangladesh War of Independence, or simply the Liberation War in Bangladesh) was a revolution and War, armed conflict sparked by the rise of the Benga ...

. He built up a guerilla force and initiated adventurous actions in

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city ...

. He assisted two daunting daughters of Poet

Sufia Kamal Begum Sufia Kamal (20 June 1911 – 20 November 1999) was a Bangladeshi poet, feminist leader, and political activist. She took part in the Bengali nationalist movement of the 1950s and civil society leader in independent Bangladesh. She led fe ...

crossing the border to India. During the war, he began his career in journalism by editing ''Lorai'' which published the news of

Mukti Bahini The Mukti Bahini ( bn, মুক্তিবাহিনী, translates as 'freedom fighters', or liberation army), also known as the Bangladesh Forces, was the guerrilla resistance movement consisting of the Bangladeshi military, paramilitary ...

. He was also one of the architects of Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee. After the independence of Bangladesh, he joined the

in 1972 as an assistant editor and went on to become the editor of the magazine until 1997. In 1998, he joined as the editor of Shaptahik 2000 and fortnightly Anandadhara. Chowdhury organized the first

beauty pageant A beauty pageant is a competition that has traditionally focused on judging and ranking the physical attributes of the contestants. Pageants have now evolved to include inner beauty, with criteria covering judging of personality, intelligence, ...

television program in Bangladesh in 1998. The program was titled ''Ananda Bichitra Photo Shundori''. Actress

Sadika Parvin Popy Sadika Parvin Popy (born 10 September) known mononymously as Popy, is a Bangladeshi film actress. She won Bangladesh National Film Award for Best Actress three times for the films ''Karagar'' (2003), ''Megher Koley Roud'' (2008) and ''Gangajatra ...

was the winner in that year.

Personal life and death

In 1977, one of the eyes of the first ever posthumous eye-donor of Bangladesh, ARM Inamul Haq, was transplanted to Chowdhury. Chowdhury died on 28 November 2005. He was buried in state honour in Mirpur Martyred Intellectual Graveyard in Dhaka. He was awarded the

posthumously in 2006.

Awards and honors

-2006

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chowdhury, Shahadat 1943 births 2005 deaths People from Khulna University of Dhaka Faculty of Fine Arts alumni Bangladeshi journalists Bangladeshi editors Burials at Mirpur Martyred Intellectual Graveyard 20th-century journalists Recipients of the Ekushey Padak