Abed Khan (; born 16 April 1945) is a Bangladeshi journalist and columnist. He has been an influential figure in the Bangladeshi news industry in various capacities for five decades. Khan is currently editor and publisher of the

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; , ), List of renamed places in Bangladesh, formerly known as Dacca, is the capital city, capital and list of cities and towns in Bangladesh, largest city of Bangladesh. It is one of the list of largest cities, largest and list o ...

-based daily ''Jagaran'' and is the former chief executive officer and chief editor of

ATN News ATN News () is a Bangladeshi Bengali-language satellite and cable news-oriented television channel owned by the Multimedia Production Company Limited, owned by Mahfuzur Rahman. It is a sister channel of ATN Bangla. It was launched on 7 June 201 ...

Early life

Abed Khan was born in the village of Rasulpur,

Khulna district Khulna District () is a district of Bangladesh. It is located in the Khulna Division, bordered in the north by Jashore District and Narail District, in the south by the Bay of Bengal, in the east by Bagerhat District, and the west by Satkhira D ...

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 ...

, British India. Both his father and maternal grandfather were renowned journalists in British India. Khan graduated from

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

by 1962, and started working as a sub-editor at daily newspaper ''Jehad'' at the age of 17. After almost a year with the ''Jehad'', he joined the daily newspaper ''Sangbad''.

Career

In 1966, Khan took a position at the influential daily newspaper '' Ittefaq''; Khan would later become ''Ittefaqs chief reporter. He fought in the Bangladeshi army during the 1971

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 ...

. In 1972, ''Ittefaq'' began publishing Khan's "Open Secret", an investigative column dealing with corruption in Bangladesh. ''Ittefaq'' also published a series of Khan's columns entitled "Abhajoner Nibedon Iti", written under the pseudonym "Obhajan" (''an ordinary man''). Khan became ''Ittefaqs assistant editor in 1978. In 1995, after 31 years of service at ''Ittefaq'', Abed Khan resigned and became a freelance journalist. He continued to write for several top-ranked Bangladeshi newspapers, including'' Jagaran'', ''

Janakantha ''Daily Janakantha'' (; ''Dainik Janakanṭha'' "Daily People's Voice") is a Bengali daily newspaper published from Dhaka, Bangladesh. It is owned by Janakantha Shilpa Paribar (GJSP). History This newspaper was first published on 21 February ...

'', ''

Bhorer Kagoj ''Bhorer Kagoj'' ( ''Bhorer Kagoj'' "Dawn's Paper") is a major Bengali-language daily newspaper, published from Dhaka, Bangladesh. The newspaper is published in both print and online formats. History ''Bhorer Kagoj'' began publications on 15 ...

'', ''

Prothom Alo ''Prothom Alo'' () is a Bengali language, Bengali-language daily newspaper in Bangladesh, published from Dhaka. It is one of the largest circulated newspaper in Bangladesh. According to the National Media Survey of 2018, conducted by Kantar MRB ...

'' and ''Sangbad''. ''Janakantha'' published "Gaurananda Kobi Bhone Shune Punyaban" (''Poet Gaurananda describes, that the pious listen to''), Khan's highly popular series of satirical articles. Khan briefly served as chief of incipient broadcast network

Ekushey Television Ekushey Television (; , in reference to 21 February), also known by its acronym ETV, is a Bangladeshi Bengali-language privately owned satellite and cable television channel. It is headquartered in Kawran Bazar, Dhaka, and is Bangladesh's first ...

's news department in 2000. Khan was also elected president of the East Pakistan Journalists' Union and the Dhaka Journalists' Union. Abed Khan joined the daily ''

'' on 18 June 2003 as its editor. He worked there from 2003 until his resignation in 2005, helping ''Bhorer Kagoj'' polish its image and recover from financial instability. Khan then acted as editor of the daily ''

Jugantor ''Daily Jugantor'' () is a Bengali daily newspaper in Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous cou ...

'' from 2005 to 2006. He also worked as editor of the daily ''

Samakal ''Samakal'' () is a Bengali-language daily newspaper published in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The paper is owned by Ha-Meem Group. It began publication in 2005. Golam Sarwar was the editor of the paper from its launch until his death in 2018. In 2020, ...

''. In January 2010, Abed Khan founded and served as editor of a new daily newspaper, ''

Kaler Kantho ''Kaler Kantho'' () is one of the most popular Bengali newspapers in Bangladesh. It is a part of East West Media Group, which is a part of Bashundhara Group. The same group owns ''Bangladesh Pratidin'', '' Daily Sun'', News24, Banglanews24, ...

'', after securing a sponsorship from Bangladeshi business conglomerate

Bashundhara Group Bashundhara Group LTD () is a Bangladeshi conglomerate based in Dhaka. It was incorporated in 1987 as a real estate company under the name East West Property Development Ltd (EWPD). It presently owns more than 50 major concerns throughout Bangl ...

. Within months, Kaler Kantho's daily circulation had exceeded 200,000 copies. Abed Khan resigned from ''Kaler Kantho'' on 30 June 2011, protesting against allegedly unethical articles printed in the daily and citing "the pressure to publish news that went against principle and journalism ethics" as a factor in his resignation. In late 2011, Abed Khan announced that he would publish and edit a new daily newspaper, ''Jagoran''. After the death of then-chief executive officer of

Mishuk Munier Ashfaque Munier (September 24, 1959August 13, 2011; known as Mishuk Munier) was a Bangladeshi media specialist and broadcast journalist. He was known for his photography direction and for being the cofounder of the global news channel The Real Ne ...

in 2011, Khan served as its chief executive officer and chief editor. He resigned his posts in April 2013, alleging a "poisonous work environment". After the fall of the

Sheikh Hasina Sheikh Hasina (''née'' Wazed; born 28 September 1947) is a Bangladeshi politician who served as the tenth prime minister of Bangladesh from June 1996 to July 2001 and again from January 2009 to August 2024. Premiership of Sheikh Hasina, Her ...

-led

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 ...

government, the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit, along with 32 other journalists, sought information on Khan's bank accounts.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Khan, Abed 1945 births Living people 20th-century Bangladeshi journalists Bangladeshi newspaper editors Bangladeshi columnists 21st-century Bangladeshi journalists People from Satkhira District Honorary Fellows of Bangla Academy