Profile - Abul Kalam Azad

Abul Kalam Azad

General Information

Journalist

Full Name: Abul Kalam Azad

Affiliation: Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS)

Current Position: Managing Director and Chief Editor

Date of Birth: January 30, 1949

Place of Birth: Bangladesh

Home District: Munshiganj

Nationality: Bangladeshi

Profile:

Abul Kalam Azad (born 30 January 1949) is a Bangladeshi journalist who is the incumbent Managing Director and Chief Editor of Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS), a state-run national news agency of Bangladesh. Prior to his appointment at BSS, Azad worked as the Press Secretary to the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina of Bangladesh.

Azad was born in Haridia village at Lohajang Upazila in Munshiganj District. His father's name was Habibur Rahman Sikder. After graduating from Dhaka University, Azad received a diploma in advanced journalism from Moscow. While studying at Dhaka University, he was a member of the central committee of Bangladesh Chhatra League. During the 1969 Mass uprising in East Pakistan, he was Dhaka divisional treasurer of the Sarbadaliya Chhatra Sangram Parishad.

Azad served as the Press Minister at the Bangladesh Embassy in Washington D.C. Upon return from the United States, the then Leader of Opposition in Parliament and Awami League President Sheikh Hasina appointed him as her Press Secretary, a position `where he served from 2002 to 2009. In 2009, after Sheikh Hasina became the Prime Minister, he was appointed as the Prime Minister's Press Secretary. He served this duty till January 27, 2014. Later on February 3 of the same year, he was appointed as the Chief Editor and Managing Director of BSS on contractual basis.

Azad made his debut as a journalist in esteemed Bangla newspaper, the Daily Ittefaq, in 1973 and worked there for decades keeping marks of his professional excellence and dignity. During his long professional career, he gradually emerged as an active trade unionist. He was the president, secretary general and treasurer of Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists (BFUJ), the apex body of journalist trade unions across the country. Before his election to the two top positions of BFUJ, Azad served as the president and general secretary of Dhaka Union of Journalists (DUJ). He was a member of the 5th Wage Board for journalists, employees and workers of the country’s newspaper industry.

Azad is currently a member of the Editors Guild, Bangladesh, Management Committee of Kurmitola General Hospital and Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institute (BSTI) Council. He is a member of the National Committee of Bangabandhu Parishad and the President of its Munshiganj district unit. He is associated with many other social and cultural organisations as well.

Azad is a former member of the Dhaka University Senate, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) Syndicate, Board of Directors of Press Institute of Bangladesh (PIB), Bangladesh Press Council, Bangladesh Film Censor Board and National Research Ethics Committee of the Directorate General of Health Services.