A Final Farewell: The Complex Legacy of Saleem Samad!

Saleem Samad was a long-standing fixture of our media house. After his departure from The Asian Age, he struggled to find a professional anchorage, yet his heart remained tied to our institution.

Only a few days ago, he reached out to me with a touch of nostalgia, saying, "Brother, I am still renewing my Press Club membership under the banner of The Asian Age." He held a deep, sincere affection for me, and our bond was profound one that allowed me to discipline and guide him with the firmness of a guardian whenever his actions went astray.

I vividly recall during the interim government's tenure when he submitted a self-destructive report regarding journalists to RSF (Reporters Without Borders). I did not mince words; I confronted him with harsh truths. He was deeply repentant, knowing full well my active and close-knit ties with RSF, Committee to Project Journalists (CPJ), Indian Press Institute (IPI), Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch (HRW), the Commonwealth, and other global human rights groups.

At our house, we had published numerous investigative pieces warning that the systemic corruption within the financial sector would lead the Hasina government toward a collapse mirroring that of Zimbabwe or the Rajapaksas. At that time, as The Asian Age faced the full, crushing weight of the state machinery, I was deeply unsettled by his decision to side with that authoritarian regime-though, in the end, the downfall of the Hasina government proved far more catastrophic than we had even predicted. Regarding Press freedom, he was a harsh critic of Tarique Rahman till his last breath. In mid-2025, he called me out of the blue, expressing his sincere sorrow and remorse over those past stances.

It's very important in mass media to take every step meticulously and calculatively. It's like walking a tightrope. Nobel Prize winner American author Ernest Hemingway once said "Life is like a bicycle. To keep balance, you have to keep moving all the way ahead". The same maxim applies for newspapers too.

Saleem Samad had to undergo a great deal of trials and tribulations in the past while working as a media professional. Sound and sagacious media outlets never entertain any political biases. A spade is a spade. A shovel is a shovel. This is how the precept of objectivity and integrity is sustained by newspapers and television channels. The Asian Age has all along adhered to this principle and never ever wavered under pressure when it comes to the publication of reports and write-ups on corruption, injustice, anarchy, nepotism and oligarchs. The Asian Age was subjected to a lot of hardship, intimidation and politicized tagging but the newspaper always held its head high and firmly upheld its stance against power abuse, graft, partisanship, financial scams and rackets.

Ultimately, we are all humans, woven from a tapestry of virtues and flaws. Yesterday, the news of his passing left me with a heavy heart. A flood of shared memories is rushing before my eyes, and I find myself at a loss for words. Saleem Samad Bhai, your departure during this era of crisis for the media is a profound loss. May you live on through the enduring legacy of your noble works and May God Almighty place you in eternal rest in the world hereafter. That is our only prayer.

Shoeb Chowdhury is Chairman, Editorial Board of The Asian Age.