A.Z.M. Enayetullah Khan (25 May 1939 – 10 November 2005) was a

Bangladeshi Bangladeshis ( ) are the citizens and nationals of Bangladesh, a South Asian country centred on the transnational historical region of Bengal along the Bay of Bengal, eponymous bay. Bangladeshi nationality law, Bangladeshi citizenship was fo ...

journalist and government minister. He founded the weekly newspaper ''

Holiday A holiday is a day or other period of time set aside for festivals or recreation. ''Public holidays'' are set by public authorities and vary by state or region. Religious holidays are set by religious organisations for their members and are often ...

'' and the daily newspaper ''

New Age New Age is a range of Spirituality, spiritual or Religion, religious practices and beliefs that rapidly grew in Western world, Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclecticism, eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise d ...

''. He served in

Ziaur Rahman Ziaur Rahman (19 January 193630 May 1981) was a Bangladeshi military officer and politician who served as the sixth president of Bangladesh from 1977 until Assassination of Ziaur Rahman, his assassination in 1981. One of the leading figures of t ...

's cabinet, first as minister of land administration and land reform from December 1977 to June 1978, and then as minister of petroleum and natural resources from July 1978 to October 1978. Md. Shaheduzzaman had remarked him as one of the best political writers in South-East Asia. He was president of the Jatiya Press Club and the Dhaka Club.

Early life and family

Enayetullah Khan was born in

Mymensingh Mymensingh () is a metropolis, metropolitan city and capital of Mymensingh Division, Bangladesh. Located on the bank of the Old Brahmaputra River, Brahmaputra River, about north of the national capital Dhaka, it is a major financial center ...

Bengal Presidency The Bengal Presidency, officially the Presidency of Fort William in Bengal until 1937, later the Bengal Province, was the largest of all three presidencies of British India during Company rule in India, Company rule and later a Provinces o ...

(present-day Bangladesh) on 25 May 1939, the third son of the late Justice

Abdul Jabbar Khan Abdul Jabbar Khan may refer to: * Abdul Jabbar Khan (20th-century politician) (1902–1984), speaker of the National Assembly of Pakistan * Abdul Jabbar Khan (director) (1916–1993), Bangladeshi filmmaker * Khan Abdul Jabbar Khan Abdul Jabb ...

, a former speaker of the Pakistan National Assembly. Enayetullah Khan was nicknamed as Mintu. His siblings include journalist and columnist Sadek Khan, poet

Abu Zafar Obaidullah Abu Zafar Obaidullah (8 February 1934 – 19 March 2001) was a Bangladeshi poet and civil servant. Two of his long poems, ''Aami-Kingbodontir-Kathaa Bolchi'' and ''Bristi O Shahosi Purush-er Jonyo Prarthona'', have become famous since their f ...

, former minister Selima Rahman, political leader

Rashed Khan Menon Rashed Khan Menon (born 18 May 1943) is a Bangladeshi politician. He is the president of Workers Party of Bangladesh and a former Jatiya Sangsad member representing the Barisal-2, Dhaka-8 and Bakerganj-9 constituencies. He was the chairman of ...

MP, Architect Sultan M. Khan, Alan Khan, a photographer in Sydney, and the publisher of ''

'', Shahidullah Khan Badal. In 1962, he married Masuda Khan Leena, the sister of renowned structural engineer

Fazlur Rahman Khan Fazlur Rahman Khan (, ''Fazlur Rôhman Khan''; 3 April 1929 – 27 March 1982) was a Bangladeshi-American structural engineer and architect, who initiated important structural systems for skyscrapers. Considered the "father of Tube (structure) ...

Politics and education

Enayetullah Khan was a student of Anand Mohan College. He served as the general secretary of Students' Union of his college. Then he got admitted in

University of Dhaka The University of Dhaka (), also known as Dhaka University (DU), is a public university, public research university located in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Established in 1921, it is the oldest active university in the country. The University of Dhaka w ...

, completed his graduation and attained master's degree in philosophy. While studying in University of Dhaka, he was involved in student politics on behalf of Students' Union and served as the vice-president of Shahidullah Hall section. He actively participated in the

Bengali Language Movement The Bengali language movement was a political movement in East Bengal (modern-day Bangladesh) in 1952, advocating the recognition of the Bengali language as a co-lingua franca of the then-Dominion of Pakistan to allow its use in government ...

in 1952. Later on he worked in favour of

Bangladesh Liberation War The Bangladesh Liberation War (, ), also known as the Bangladesh War of Independence, was an War, armed conflict sparked by the rise of the Bengali nationalism, Bengali nationalist and self-determination movement in East Pakistan, which res ...

. He joined

Farakka Long March The Farakka Long March occurred in May 1976, and was led by Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani, demanding demolition of the Farakka Barrage constructed by India to divert flow of Ganges waters inside its territory, triggering the drying up of ri ...

Committee with

Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani (12 December 1880 – 17 November 1976), also known reverentially as Maulana Bhashani, was a Bangladeshi politician and statesman who was one of the founder of the Awami League, the oldest and main political party in B ...

Life and career

Enayetullah Khan started his journalism career in 1959 as a cub reporter with the then ''Pakistan Observer''. Later, he founded the ''

Weekly Holiday ''Holiday'' is an independent English-language newsweekly published on Fridays in Bangladesh. Founded by the late eminent journalist Enayetullah Khan in 1965, it was one of the most influential newspapers in East Pakistan and was known for its ou ...

'' in August 1965 and took over as its editor in 1966. ''Weekly Holiday'' was critical to the

Ayub Khan Mohammad Ayub Khan (14 May 1907 – 19 April 1974) was a Pakistani military dictator who served as the second president of Pakistan from 1958 until his resignation on 1969. He was the first native commander-in-chief of the Pakistan Army, se ...

regime in

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

and supported the Mass Upsurge in 1969. Later, after Independence war he was nominated as a member of the search committee to find out the information regarding the deceased intellectuals during Bangladesh Independence War. He was the owner editor of ''Weekly Holiday'', the magazine that played a strong role against the anarchy of

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (17 March 1920 – 15 August 1975), also known by the honorific Bangabandhu, was a Bangladeshi politician, revolutionary, statesman and activist who was the founding president of Bangladesh. As the leader of Bangl ...

and published many reports that included full description of atrocities done by the Jatiyo Rakkhi Bahini from 1972 to 1975. He was later detained and ''Weekly Holiday'' was banned by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. He also served as the coordinator of Committee for Civil Liberties and Legal Aid, the organisation that helped the victims of Jatiyo Rakkhi Bahini. When the famine of 1974 started in Bangladesh he formed Famine Resistance Committee and helped the hungry and destitute. He served as the editor of the ''Bangladesh Times'' from 1975 to 1977. Later, he served as minister of petroleum and mineral resources in the cabinet of President Ziaur Rahman. Then he was commissioned as the ambassador of Bangladesh to China, North Korea, Cambodia, and

Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...

. He also worked as the President of National Press Club and Dhaka Club. He was in the 1976 Farakka March Committee led by Moulana Bhasani and the Committee Against Communalism in 1981. In 2003, he started the publication of the daily newspaper ''

''.

Death

Khan died in Toronto, Canada on 10 November 2005 at the age of 66. He had been suffering from cancer of the pancreas.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Khan, A.Z.M. Enayetullah 1939 births 2005 deaths Bangladesh Nationalist Party politicians Deaths from pancreatic cancer in Ontario Recipients of the Ekushey Padak Ministers of power, energy and mineral resources of Bangladesh Burials at Banani Graveyard 20th-century Bangladeshi journalists Abdul Jabbar Khan family Ananda Mohan College alumni People from Mymensingh Politicians from Barisal District 20th-century Bangladeshi politicians