A B M Musa (28 February 19319 April 2014) was a

Bengal Bengal ( ) is a Historical geography, historical geographical, ethnolinguistic and cultural term referring to a region in the Eastern South Asia, eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. The region of Benga ...

i journalist. He was the chief editor of

Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS) is the news agency of Bangladesh. BSS was established on 1 January 1972 by the Government of Bangladesh soon after the Bangladesh Liberation War. Mahbub Morshed is the current managing director and chief editor o ...

(BSS). He was awarded

Ekushey Padak Ekushey Padak () is the second highest civilian award in Bangladesh, introduced in memory of martyrs of the Bengali language movement of 1952. The award is given to recognize contributions in a number of fields, including culture, education, and e ...

for journalism in 1999 by the

government of Bangladesh The government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh () is the central government of Bangladesh. The government was constituted by the Constitution of Bangladesh comprising the executive (the president, prime minister and cabinet), the ...

Education

Musa was born in Feni District in on 28 February 1931. He was educated in Chittagong Government Moslem High School, Noakhali Zilla School,

Comilla Victoria Government College Comilla Victoria Government College (), mostly known as Comilla Victoria College, is a public college in Comilla, Bangladesh. It is one of the oldest and prestigious colleges in Comilla as well as in the Chittagong division. The higher secondary b ...

and

Choumohoni College Chowmuhani Government S.A College is a public college in Begumganj Upazila, Noakhali District, Bangladesh, established in 1943. The college is affiliated with National University. Notable alumni * Naiyyum Choudhury, founding chairman of the Bangl ...

. In Choumohoni College, he first got into journalism as an editor of the college newspaper ''Koifoyot''.

Career

Musa started his career as a journalist in 1950 with the then ''Daily Insaf''. He moved to the Daily ''

Pakistan Observer ''Pakistan Observer'' is an English-language daily newspaper of Pakistan. It is published from six cities – Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar, Quetta and Muzaffarabad. The newspaper was founded in 1988 by Zahid Malik. The newspaper wa ...

'' in the same year. He was a founder of Pakistan Journalists Union and elected general secretary of the then East Pakistan Journalists Union. Musa was a correspondent of

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

and ''

Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...

'' during the

Liberation War of Bangladesh 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 ...

in 1971. He was one of the founder members of Jatiya Press Club. In 1971, he joined

Bangladesh Television Bangladesh Television (), commonly known by its acronym BTV (), is the state-owned television network of Bangladesh. The network was originally established as the East Pakistan branch of Pakistan Television Corporation, Pakistan Television in 1 ...

(BTV) as its director general. He was also the editor of the then '' Morning News''. Musa worked in

(BSS), Bangladesh's national news agency, as its managing director and chief editor from May 1985 to March 1987. Later in his life, he worked as the editor of ''

Daily Jugantor ''Daily Jugantor'' () is a Bengali daily newspaper in Bangladesh. The newspaper is printed and published by Jamuna Printing and Publishing Ltd. established in 1999, and administrative operations are overseen by Jamuna Media Ltd of Jamuna Group. ...

'' during 2004–05. Musa was an elected member of parliament (MP) from Feni constituency in 1973, as an

Awami League The Awami League, officially known as Bangladesh Awami League, is a major List of political parties in Bangladesh, political party in Bangladesh. The oldest existing political party in the country, the party played the leading role in achievin ...

candidate.

Personal life

Musa was married to Setara Musa (1940–2023). Setara completed her master's in Bangla literature from the

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 ...

and worked for several newspapers, including the ''Daily Janata'', the ''Dainik Awaz'' and now defunct the ''Dainik Purbakon''. They had one son Nasim Musa and three daughters namely Mariam Sultana Musa Ruma, Parveen Sultana Musa Jhuma and Dr Sharmin Musa.

References

1931 births 2014 deaths Bangladeshi journalists Former Awami League politicians Recipients of the Ekushey Padak People from Fulgazi Upazila Honorary Fellows of Bangla Academy Comilla Victoria Government College alumni 1st Jatiya Sangsad members Noakhali Zilla School alumni {{Chittagong-AL-politician-stub