Headquarter of Daily Ittefaq and Daily Manab Zamin

''The Daily Ittefaq'' (, Bangla pronunciation: ) is a Bengali-language daily newspaper. Founded in 1949 by

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 ...

and

Yar Mohammad Khan Yar Mohammad Khan (September 9, 1920 – August 29, 1981) was a Bangladeshi politician and statesman. He was the co-founder and first treasurer of the Bangladesh Awami League, the main political party that eventually led Bangladesh's struggle fo ...

, it is the oldest and one of the most circulated newspapers in Bangladesh. The newspaper format is

broadsheet A broadsheet is the largest newspaper format and is characterized by long Vertical and horizontal, vertical pages, typically of in height. Other common newspaper formats include the smaller Berliner (format), Berliner and Tabloid (newspaper ...

, and is printed by Ittefaq Group of Publications Limited.

Pre-1971

''Ittefaq'' was initially published weekly. On 15 August 1949, the first issue of Ittefaq was off the press. Bhashani served as the original editor. Later, Bhashani and Yar Mohammad Khan appointed Manik Miah as the editor. It became a daily on 24 December 1953 under the editorship of Tofazzal Hossain. During the time of United Pakistan, it publicised the negligence and colonial mindset of Pakistani leaders to

East Pakistan East Pakistan was the eastern province of Pakistan between 1955 and 1971, restructured and renamed from the province of East Bengal and covering the territory of the modern country of Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India and Burma, wit ...

. As a result, the government acted against its editors and journalists. Hossain's post-editorial column 'Rajnaitik Mancha' (political platform) became popular in East Pakistan. ''The Daily Ittefaq'' played a vital role during 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 ...

era. ''Ittefaq'' had a significant role in the 1954 general elections, and it contributed to the victory of the

United Front A united front is an alliance of groups against their common enemies, figuratively evoking unification of previously separate geographic fronts or unification of previously separate armies into a front. The name often refers to a political and/ ...

. From

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 ...

Yahya Khan Agha Muhammad Yahya Khan (4 February 191710 August 1980) was a Pakistani army officer who served as the third president of Pakistan from 1969 to 1971. He also served as the fifth Commander-in-Chief, Pakistan, commander-in-chief of the Pakistan ...

, ''Ittefaq'' always strongly opposed all military rule of Pakistan. The ''Ittefaq'' supported the six point movement of Awami League during the mid-1960s and helped publish its ideas. ''Ittefaq'' quickly emerged as the voice of East Pakistani citizens. President Ayub Khan

censored Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governmen ...

its publication from 17 June to 11 July 1966, and then again from 17 July 1966 to 9 February 1969. Tofazzal Hossain was imprisoned several times. Hossain died on 1 June 1969; the newspaper was subsequently managed by his two sons, Mainul Hosein and

Anwar Hossain Manju Anwar Hossain Manju (born 9 February 1944) is a Bangladeshi politician who is a former Jatiya Sangsad member representing Pirojpur-2 constituency which consists of Kawkhali, Bhandaria and Zianagar upazilas until January 2024. He was elected a ...

Role in Liberation War of Bangladesh

The ''Ittefaq'' office was burnt down and completely demolished on 25 March 1971, by the

Pakistan Army The Pakistan Army (, ), commonly known as the Pak Army (), is the Land warfare, land service branch and the largest component of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The president of Pakistan is the Commander-in-chief, supreme commander of the army. The ...

as part of

Operation Searchlight Operation Searchlight was a military operation carried out by the Pakistan Army in an effort to curb the Bengali nationalist movement in former East Pakistan in March 1971. Pakistan retrospectively justified the operation on the basis of ant ...

. It was all in ruins and there was not a sign of life there. The newspaper received Taka 100,000 (equivalent to £8,300 in 1971) as compensation from the Pakistan government. This enabled Barrister Mainul Hosein to resume publishing, under the watchful eye of the authorities, on 21 May 1971, from the Daily Pakistan Press. For the remainder of the

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 ...

, the paper was a mouthpiece for Yahya and Tikka Khan and severely criticised the freedom fighters. After the newspaper ''

The Daily Sangram ''The Daily Sangram'', also known as ''Dainik Sangram'' (, ''Doinik Shôŋgram'', translation: "Daily Struggle"), is a Bengali daily newspaper and published from Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; , ), List of renamed places in Bangladesh, formerly know ...

'' called Serajuddin Hossain (also transliterated Seraj Uddin Hossain), executive editor of ''The Daily Ittefaq'', the editor was abducted on 10 December 1971 and never found. During Bangladesh's war crimes trials in 2012,

Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed (; 23 June 1948 – 22 November 2015) was a Bangladeshi politician and war criminal who served as a Member of Parliament and as the Minister of Social Welfare from 2001 to 2006. He was sentenced to death after tri ...

, a

Jamaat-e-Islami Jamaat-e-Islami is an Islamist fundamentalist movement founded in 1941 in British India by the Islamist author and theorist Syed Abul Ala Maududi, who was inspired by the Muslim Brotherhood. It is considered one of the most influential Isla ...

party member, was charged with Hossain's murder.

Present

Ownership was returned to Manik Mia's sons after nationalization on 24 August 1975.

Tasmima Hossain Tasmima Hossain (; born 1951) is a Jatiya Party (Ershad), Jatiya Party politician and a former Jatiya Sangsad member representing the Pirojpur-2 constituency. She is the editor of ''The Daily Ittefaq'' and ''Anannya''. Early life Hossain was bor ...

is the editor. ''The Daily Ittefaq'' features all the standard sections of a modern daily newspaper like political news, economic, sports, education, entertainment, and general and local news.

Online edition

This newspaper offers a daily Bengali electronic edition on its website and an English edition aimed at a younger audience. This news portal has also E-paper.

References

External links