Profile - Matiur Rahman

Matiur Rahman

General Information

Journalist

Journalism, writer, editor

Full Name: Matiur Rahman

Affiliation: Prothom Alo

Current Position: Editor

Date of Birth: January 02, 1946

Place of Birth: Kolkata, West Bengal

Home District: Dhaka

Nationality: Bangladeshi

Profile:

Matiur Rahman (born 02 January 1946) is a Bangladeshi journalist and write. He is the editor of Prothom Alo, the second largest circulated Bengali language daily in Bangladesh. Prothom Alo was launched in November 4, 1998 and he has been the Editor of this leading Bengali daily since then. He is the recipient of the 2005 Ramon Magsaysay Award in the journalism, literature and creative communication arts category.

Rahman was born in Calcutta to Mohammed Fazlur Rahman, a lawyer and Lutfunessa Begum. For his secondary education, he attended Nawabpur Government High School and then Dhaka Government College. For his higher education, he attended the University of Dhaka and earned his master's degree in statistics in 1967. During his student life he was actively involved in student politics and was the Central Leader of the then largest student organization, Bangladesh Students' Union (Chhatra Union) from 1962 to 1969. He was also the General Secretary of Dhaka University Sangskriti Sangstha, a cultural organization of Dhaka University, from 1965 to 1968.

Rahman was active in leftist politics of Bangladesh and was one of the central leaders of the Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB) from 1973 to 1990.

Rahman entered journalism in 1970 when he became the editor of Ekota, a socialist weekly. For five years during the 1970s, he also published the Bangladesh edition of the journal World Marxist Review. He left that position after 21 years and after the fall of the East Bloc. After he left Ekota, he worked as a journalist for Ajker Kagoj, which was Bangladesh's first modern newspaper. In February 1992, he partnered with others to found Bhorer Kagoj, which he edited for the next six years. After Saber Hossain Chowdhury joined the cabinet of the Awami League government, Rahman felt pressured to shape the newspaper's stance in accordance with the ruling party and this led to his resignation. In 1998, he founded Prothom Alo, a daily newspaper.

As a key person in Dhaka Rahman helped to organize South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Election Observer Team, which was initiated by Ethnic Study Centre of Sri Lanka and funded by NORAD for the National Parliament Election of Bangladesh in 1991 and 1996. He was also a member of the non-governmental SAARC Election Observer Team for Pakistan National Election held in 1997 and 2002. He attended numerous international seminars and conferences in many countries around the world.

The Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation recognized Rahman's relentless efforts in 2005 to create mass awareness against acid violence and collect funds to help acid burnt women through Prothom Alo and Prothom Alo Trust in 2005. He was described as “the navigator of positive social and cultural change” in Bangladesh.

Rahman was elected president of the Newspaper Owners' Association of Bangladesh in June 2014.

Rahman has authored 5 books and edited 9 books.

Notable publications: