“Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman had a great heart and also a very soft mind. Bangabandhu had started instructing the courts, ports and all other government and non-government sectors since the 1st March in 1971, although he was neither the President nor the Prime Minister at that time”.
This is how legendary media figure Iqbal Bahar Choudhury narrated about Bangabandhu in an exclusive interview with The Bangladesh Post on Wednesday.
Being a journalist, Iqbal Bahar Chowdhury said, he could guess the fall of Pakistan by witnessing an incident on March 1 in Motijheel near the Hotel Purbani where Bangabandhu was holding a press conference.
The press conference was held when Pakistan government had postponed all the parliament sessions in Dhaka immediately after Bangabandhu achieved full majority in the parliament, said Iqbal Bahar, a journalist of global stature, who possess vast experience in television and broadcast journalism for a period spanning more than 60 years.
During the Pakistani period, eight sessions of the parliament were held in Dhaka in a year, although the budget session was held in Rawalpindi.
Credited with having vast and rich knowledge and experiences about history, culture and literature of Bangladesh, he also has written enormous articles on politics, history and culture. He was an actor and also a veteran reciter.
He also dwelt on his experiences and roles in the media, culture and education sector while talking to The Bangladesh Post during his short visit to Dhaka.
Though he had extensive and frequent meetings with a large number of global leaders, he seemed generous and also became emotional while recalling the proudest moments with the Father of the Nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
Talking about Bangabandhu, Iqbal Bahar said, “Bangabandhu had a great heart and also a very soft mind. Besides, the national four leaders, including Tajuddin Ahmed, were also the great leaders.”
“As Pakistan postponed the parliament session in Dhaka, Bangabandhu held a press conference in Hotel Purbani. Meanwhile, many young leaders had been demolishing the neon signboards of the then Pakistan Airlines at Motijheel adjacent to the Hotel Purbani. The arrogant activities by the Bangali youths made me understood that Pakistan would no longer be sustained”, said Iqbal Bahar Chowdhury.
He said, “In the month of March in 1971, before the independence of Bangladesh, though we had been working with the Pakistan Television in Dhaka, but we had worked for the Bangladesh avoiding the red eyes of the Pakistani bosses”
Iqbal Bahar said though they had been working for the Pakistan Television, they used to visit Bangabandhu's residence in Dhanmondi daily for his instructions.
“Bangabandhu used to inspire all of us all the time. We used to give preference and special treatment to the news related to the struggle for our self-determination and independence,” said Iqbal Bahar Chowdhury.
Talking about the experience of covering the10th January event on the occasion of the ‘Home Coming of Bangabandhu’, Iqbal Bahar Chowdhury said, “Live telecast at that time in war-torn Bangladesh was an unthinkable job. Millions of people gathered in the old airport to welcome the leader. Suddenly I was told to cover the event by a helicopter as there was no other way to reach Bangabandhu at the then Recourse Maidan, now the Suhrawardi Udyan. I have no idea about whose helicopter that was.”
About his carrier, Iqbal Bahar Chowdhury, who had started his carrier in the journalism as a news caster, said he had to cover a lot of historic events, including the 7th March speech of Bangabandu in 1971 at the then Race Course Maidan, now the Suhrawardi Udyan and the 10th January gathering in 1972 at the same venue on the occasion of the Home Coming of Bangabandhu from the captivity in Pakistan. He is the only journalist, who had the opportunity of covering the 10th January event boarding a helicopter.
The renowned broadcaster and cultural personality, Iqbal Bahar Choudhury has represented Bangladesh, our language and culture in the Voice of America (VOA) for more than 38 years from 1973 to 2010. His contribution as a broadcast journalist made him a renowned figure among the Bengali speaking people worldwide. Chowdhury began broadcasting in 1949, from Nazimuddin Road in Old Dhaka for Radio Pakistan Dhaka.
Born in 1940 to a renowned Bengali Muslim family, his father Habibullah Bahar Choudhury was a famous politician and social activist. His mother, Anwara Bahar Choudhury, was a prominent female writer and activist for promoting women's education. Iqbal evinced keen interest in culture during his early years and used to perform in the children's programmes of Pakistan Radio. He got deeply involved in the cultural activities during the 60s.
Iqbal Bahar Chowdhury, who was a student of Economics Department of the University of Dhaka, said he used to perform in theatres regularly. He took part in the Tagore Centenary in 1961. He had worked with artistes such as Munir Chowdhury, Abdullah Al Mamun, Ramendu Majumder, Ferdowsi Majumder, Golam Mustafa, Fateh Lohani, Khurshed Alam and many others.
His mother, Anwara Bahar Chowdhury was an activist and writer. She was one of the founders of Bulbul Academy of Fine Arts (BAFA) in Dhaka. In the early 1960s, she worked as the deputy leader of a cultural delegation to Iran, Iraq and the former Soviet Union.
After graduation, Iqbal Bahar joined the Radio Pakistan as a broadcaster and after introducing television facility, he became one of the first television broadcasters in this land.
Although he left the job in journalism, he is still active in the cultural arena. He has published several albums of poetry recitation. He has also produced several documentary films. One of them is on Begum Rokayea and another on his mother Anwara Bahar Choudhury.
He got involved with the radio during the Pakistan regime in 1949 as a child artist and started news broadcasting in the radio in 1960 and in the television in 1964.
In 1964, he became one of the first television news presenters in East Bengal. He joined the Voice of America as a news presenter in 1972 and retired in 2010. In 2006, he introduced the Bengali television service in VOA.
Chowdhury published several albums of poetry recitation. He recited poems of Rabindranath Tagore and Kazi Nazrul Islam. According to him, his great-grandfather Khan Bahadur Abdul Aziz was an educationist.
