Visit to The Daily Star: When mayhem calls to look back at happier times

It was very sad to see the arson and violence at the The Daily Star office in Dhaka last night. Equally painful was to see senior journalist Nurul Kabir when he went to visit the site.

I have known both the Star office and Kabir for decades since my stint as PTI Special Correspondent posted in Dhaka from 1991-96. Those years in the Bangladesh capital were, to quote Charlies Dickens, the best of time and the worst of time (worst because of something I choose to write about some other time), in my long career.    

My introduction to The Daily Star, with whom I was associated for several years as its India correspondent on returning to New Delhi, took place when its office was in Dhanmandi 3, where I met Kabir, much before he became the Editor of "New Age." The abiding image of Kabir I still recall is his one leg heavily bandaged and placed on a chair in the reporting room on the ground floor of that office. He was recovering from an accident. Never before did I meet such a gentle, self-effacing journalist whose bylined stories used to be a regular feature in the front pages of the daily at that time.     

My next visit to The Daily Star office was in February 2014, when the newspaper's set-up shifted to Kawran Bazar. It was an imposing, swanky office. But Kabir had left The Daily Star by that time.

Most of my interactions with many journalists in Dhaka were, however, on the streets covering weeks of the movement for national elections under a neutral caretaker government from 1994-96, Jatiya Press Club, Dhaka Reporters Unity room at Aziz Super Market, besides, of course, the assignments at different venues.      

Exchanging greetings with those present in the Star's editorial room upstairs was such a pleasure, as the journalists were so vivacious and helpful. Then, I went up to the Star canteen further up and saw Inam Ahmed bhai (now the Editor of The Business Standard) enjoying his lunch along with some of his colleagues.

Looking through the huge glass-panelled walls facing the Kazi Nazrul Islam Avenue, I envied the panoramic view of the surroundings, including the Sonargaon Pan Pacific Hotel, a short distance away. I admired the aesthetic sense of the Star management for choosing the office location.     

So, it was agonising to see The Daily Star office in the condition it was reduced to by last night's mayhem. It was not the first time The Daily Star had come under attack during and after the Awami League rule. But what lifted up my spirits was the videos of Nurul Kabir risking his life and wading through rampaging protestors, for whom media freedom meant next to nothing, and trying to help out the Star journalists stranded on the roof on a winter night. He is a true leader in the beleaguered media ecosystem of Bangladesh, battling suppression and oppression for years now.

Sitting thousands of miles away, I can only wish all Bangladeshi journalists the best.