Full Name: Haroon Habib

Date of Birth: January 01, 1948

Place of Birth: Bangladesh

Home District: Jamalpur

Nationality: Bangladeshi

Profile:

Haroon Habib (born 01 January 1948) is a writer, journalist and columnist of Bangladesh who is well known for his bold independent writings. A powerful voice in journalism, creative writings and social activism for last three and half decades, he took part in the country's Liberation War in 1971 as a student guerrilla fighter and simultaneously worked as war correspondent of the Joy Bangla weekly and Swadhin Bangla Beter Kendra radio, the two official mouthpieces of the provisional Mujibnagar government, that led the country's independence war.

Habib was born in Kharma village of Dewanganj upazila of Jamalpur district. Although his father Tofazzal Hossain was a physician by profession but he was widely associated with drama and cultural activities. His mother was Fatema Khatun.

Habib was born in Kharma village of Dewanganj upazila of Jamalpur district. Although his father Tofazzal Hossain was a physician by profession, he was widely associated with drama and cultural activities. His mother was Fatema Khatun. Habib ‍started his education at the local Kharma Primary School. He obtained Secondary education from Dewangonj Co-operative High School and Higher Secondary from Aseque Mahmud College, Jamalpur. Later, he graduated from the then Quaid-e-Azam College (now Kabi Nazrul Government College) and did his Masters in Journalism from Dhaka University in 1974. He did post-graduate study at the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC), New Delhi.

Habib is one of the few freedom fighters who joined journalism returning from the warfronts in early 1972 soon after the devastating war that turned the former eastern wing of Pakistan as Bangladesh. He first joined as a reporter in the Bangladesh Press International (BPI), a smaller news agency that began operation after the new country was born and later joined Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS), the premier national news agency, run by the state.

Spanning over three decades, Habib served the wire service in various journalistic capacities and finally led the national news agency as its editor-in-chief and managing director. He is also the Dhaka correspondent of India's prestigious English daily The Hindu and Frontline magazine for over two decades. He contributed to TIME as the magazine's stringer based in Dhaka, and worked for nearly 10 years as Bangladesh correspondent of the Bengali Service of the German radio – Deutsche Welle. A popular columnist, he writes regular columns in the leading Bangladesh and regional newspapers. He now leads Journalism & Peace Foundation (JPF), an organization he founded for making journalism peace oriented.

A well-known short story writer, novelist and essayist, Habib authored many books, some of them are highly rated. His major literary works is primarily set on the theme of nation's struggle for secular identity and the events of the War of Liberation, in which 3 million people were killed and over three hundred thousand women raped by marauding Pakistan army and their local Islamist goons. For outstanding contribution to literature, he got 'Bangla Academy Literary Award' for 2013 and the 'Katha Sahitya Kendra Award', among others.

A leading civil society proponent, Habib is closely involved in social activism, particularly in the secular 'Pro-Liberation' campaign that he feels urgently to protect Bangladesh from the clutch of fanaticism and Islamist militancy. He is one of the leading voices in Bangladesh for the trial of the 'War Criminals' who perpetrated worst crimes against unarmed civilians as cohorts of the marauding Pakistan army during the nation's Liberation War in 1971. Currently, he is leading the Sector Commanders' Forum (SCF), a national platform of 1971 war veterans, for restoration of the country's secular identity and hold trial of the War Criminals as the forum's secretary general.

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