Published: 11:14 PM, 30 August 2026
Journalist Abdus Salam commemorated on 116th birth anniversary
A commemorative meeting to recall the life and accomplishments of journalist Abdus Salam was held in the auditorium of Press Institute of Bangladesh (PIB) on Sunday on account of his 116th birth anniversary. Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Acting Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi chaired the event as the chief guest. The Prime Minister's Adviser for Information and Cultural Affairs Dr. Zahed Ur Rahman joined the program as a special guest.
Abdus Salam was the founding Director General of the Press Institute Bangladesh (PIB). He was the first editor of an independent Bangladeshi newspaper to be dismissed from his position. It was this same editor whom President Ziaur Rahman later entrusted with establishing the PIB.
To write a few words about Abdus Salam, on March 15, 1972, Abdus Salam published an editorial titled "The Supreme Test" in his newspaper, The Bangladesh Observer. The editorial argued that although the Awami League had won an overwhelming mandate from the people, the government lacked a legal basis for its existence because there was no constitution currently in force. It was, rather, a victorious revolutionary government. In effect, Abdus Salam was advocating the demand that had emerged in the political arena for a national government comprising all the forces that had participated in the Liberation War.
The conclusion of the editorial, rendered in Bengali, was roughly as follows: He (Mujib) may not know how powerful he is. His strength comes not from any particular group, faction, or vested interest, but from the people. In a sense, he is now facing the ultimate test of that greatness.
The incident thus came to symbolically represent the "supreme test" of patriotism between an apparently all-powerful head of government and a professional editor. Immediately after the editorial was published, Abdus Salam lost his job.
Journalist A.B.M. Musa telephoned Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in support of Abdus Salam. Mujib read the editorial aloud to Musa and maintained his position that Abdus Salam should resign. The following day, the newspaper published a defensive explanation on its front page.
The decision to dismiss Abdus Salam came from the Cabinet, and Sheikh Mujib himself believed that the publication of such an editorial had been carried out in collusion with the U.S. Embassy. Despite having devoted twenty years to The Observer, Abdus Salam was not given an opportunity to make a dignified departure, nor was there any visible protest against his dismissal.
Daily Manab Zameen Editor-in-Chief Matiur Rahman Chowdhury, Professor Mostafizur Rahman, Distinguished Fellow of Center for Policy Dialogue (CPD), Dr. Abdul Hye Siddique, Convener of Television Editors Council and Kader Gani Chowdhury, Managing Director and Editor-in-Chief of Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS) spoke on the occasion. It was presided over by PIB Director General Faruk Wasif.
