Bichitra is a defunct weekly literary magazine. It was owned by the

Government of Bangladesh The Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh ( bn, গণপ্রজাতন্ত্রী বাংলাদেশ সরকার — ) is the central executive government of Bangladesh. The government was constituted by the Co ...

and edited by

Shahadat Chowdhury Shahadat Chowdhury (28 July 1943 – 29 November 2005) was a Bangladeshi journalist and editor of several news magazines. He served as the editor of Weekly Bichitra from 1972 until its publication was ceased in 1997. He then served as the editor ...

. The magazine has been described as a historic milestone and a pioneering magazine.

History

Fazal Shahabuddin Fazal Shahabuddin (4 February 1936 – 9 February 2014) was a Bangladeshi poet and journalist. He was awarded Bangla Academy Literary Award in 1973 and Ekushey Padak in 1988. Early life and career Shahabuddin was born in Dhaka in 1936. His poetr ...

is the founding editor of the magazine. It was founded in 1972. Bichitra was the first publication in Bangladesh to issue a special Eid edition.

Ziaur Rahman Lt. General Ziaur Rahman (19 January 1936 – 30 May 1981), was a Bangladeshi military Officer (armed forces), officer and politician who served as the President of Bangladesh from Presidency of Ziaur Rahman, 1977 to 1981. He was Assassinat ...

talked about his role in the Bangladesh Liberation war and the leadership of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in an article in the magazine in 1972. On 17 May 1978, the

Tokai Tōkai ( 東海, literally ''East Sea'') in Japanese may refer to: * Tōkai region, a subregion of Chūbu * Tōkai, Ibaraki, a village, also known as "Tokaimura" (Tokai-village) * Tōkai, Aichi, a city * Tōkai University, a private university in T ...

, by

Rafiqun Nabi Rafiqun Nabi (born 28 November 1943), better known as Ranabi, is a Bangladeshi artist and cartoonist. He is best known for creating ''Tokai'', a character symbolizing the poor street boys of Dhaka who lives on picking things from dustbins or beg ...

, was first published in the magazine. The cartoon would go on to achieve iconic status in Bangladesh. On 7 December 1991,

Sufia Kamal Begum Sufia Kamal (20 June 1911 – 20 November 1999) was a Bangladeshi poet, feminist leader, and political activist. She took part in the Bengali nationalist movement of the 1950s and civil society leader in independent Bangladesh. She led fe ...

gave an interview to the magazine about her memories of Bangladesh Liberation war. The executive editor,

Shahriar Kabir Shahriyar Kabir (born 20 November 1950) is a Bangladeshi journalist, filmmaker, human rights activist, and author of more than 70 books focusing on human rights, communism, fundamentalism, history, and the Bangladesh war of independence. He wa ...

, was fired by the magazine for his involvement in

Gono Adalat Gono Adalat (people's court) was a mock trial held to Bangladesh of those responsible for the 1971 Bangladesh Genocide. It was not an official trial and did not have any legal basis but was widely popular. The Bangladesh Nationalist Party led gover ...

served as the editor of the magazine until 1997. The government stopped publication of the magazine in 1997.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bichitra 1972 establishments in Bangladesh 1997 disestablishments in Bangladesh Bengali-language magazines Literary magazines published in Bangladesh Defunct magazines published in Bangladesh Magazines established in 1972 Magazines disestablished in 1997 Mass media in Dhaka State media Weekly magazines