Barun Sengupta () (23 January 1934 – 19 June 2008), the founder-editor of ''

Bartaman ''Bartaman Patrika'' () is an Indian Bengali language, Bengali daily newspaper published from Kolkata, West Bengal, India, by Bartaman Pvt. Ltd. Apart from the Kolkata edition, the newspaper has three other simultaneous editions, published dail ...

'' newspaper, was a Bengali journalist and popular political critic. He is remembered for his bold and simple diction of political analysing that made him extremely well liked among the common readers in

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

Life

Son of Nirmalananda Sengupta and Ranibala Devi, Barun Sengupta was born in

Barisal Barisal ( or ; , ), officially known as Barishal, is a major city that lies on the banks of the Kirtankhola river in south-central Bangladesh. It is the largest city and the administrative headquarter of both Barisal District and Barisal Divi ...

(in present-day Bangladesh). Sengupta, along with his family, moved to Kolkata before the

partition of India The partition of India in 1947 was the division of British India into two independent dominion states, the Dominion of India, Union of India and Dominion of Pakistan. The Union of India is today the Republic of India, and the Dominion of Paki ...

in 1947 and rented a house near Baithakkhana Market in north-central Kolkata. His education started in B.M. School, Barisal. Later he was admitted to Town School, Kolkata. After graduating in commerce from

City College, Kolkata City College is a composite state government–aided public college, affiliated to the University of Calcutta. It offers undergraduate-level courses in various arts, commerce and science subjects. History Anandamohan Bose, founder of the C ...

, he founded a periodical named ''Bhabikal'' which lasted a few issues. In 1957, he founded another weekly named ''Bartaman'' with the aid of Hemanta Kumar Bose, a popular leader of the political party, Forward Bloc. He joined

Anandabazar Patrika ''Anandabazar Patrika'' is an Indian Bengali-language daily newspaper owned by the ABP Group. Its main competitors are ''Bartaman'', '' Ei Samay'', '' Sangbad Pratidin'', " Aajkal", " Jago Bangla", " ganashakti" and " dainik Statesman". Histo ...

in 1960 and became its first designated political correspondent in 1965. During the

Emergency An emergency is an urgent, unexpected, and usually dangerous situation that poses an immediate risk to health, life, property, or environment and requires immediate action. Most emergencies require urgent intervention to prevent a worsening ...

, he was sent to jail along with another reporter,

Gour Kishore Ghosh Gour Kishore Ghosh (20 June 1923 – 15 December 2000) was an Indian writer and journalist in Bengali language, Bengali. Associated with ''Anandabazar Patrika'' for decades, Ghosh was known for his novels ''Desh Mati Manush'' and ''Prem Nei''. ...

. In 1984, he left Anandabazar Patrika to start his own journal and launched ''

'', a daily, on 7 December that year. For its straightforward and intrepid style, the journal became extremely popular among the common Bengali readers. Later Sengupta launched two more periodicals – '' Saptahik Bartaman'', a weekly and ''Sukhi Grihokon'', a monthly and this time too it was a success. He died in a south Kolkata nursing home after a brief illness, having completed 50 years in journalism the previous year.

Books

He wrote several books on India's political situation. One of his controversial book ''Indira Ekadashi'' was based on the 11-year tenure (1966–77) of

Indira Gandhi Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (Given name, ''née'' Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and stateswoman who served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India from 1966 to 1977 and again from 1980 un ...

as the Prime Minister of India. * ''Pala Badaler Pala'' * ''Sab Chatitra Kalpanik'' * ''Bipak-i-stan'' * ''Andhakarer Antaraley'' * ''Netajir Antardhan Rahasya''

Remembrance

A metro station was named after him as Barun Sengupta Metro Station in the Orange Line of Kolkata Metro. The station is meant to serve the Science City and surrounding area of Eastern Kolkata.

References

External links

* News of Sengupta's Death and a short biography from The Telegraph

* News of Sengupta's Death from Indian Express

* Biography of Barun Sengupta from Yahoo News �

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sengupta, Barun Indian newspaper editors Indian newspaper founders Indian editors 1934 births 2008 deaths Bengali Hindus 20th-century Bengalis Bengali writers Bengali-language writers City College, Kolkata alumni University of Calcutta alumni Indian people imprisoned during the Emergency (India) People from Barisal District Journalists from West Bengal Indian male journalists Indian newspaper journalists 20th-century Indian journalists Indian magazine founders Indian critics 20th-century Indian writers Indian political writers Indian political journalists Indian political scientists 20th-century Indian non-fiction writers Indian male non-fiction writers 20th-century political scientists

Life

Books

Remembrance

Further reading

References

External links