Journalist Ranesh Maitra dies

Language movement veteran, Freedom Fighter and Ekushey Padak winning journalist Ranesh Maitra passed away while undergoing treatment at a hospital in Dhaka on Monday. He was 90.

He breathed his last around 3:47am.

He is survived by wife, two sons and three daughters.

Born on October 4, 1933 at Nowhata in Rajshahi, Ranesh started his career as a journalist in 1951 in the weekly newspaper 'Nawbelal' published from Sylhet.

He was one of the organisers of the language movement in 1952. In the same year, he was elected the president of the district organising committee of the Chhatra Union and later became president of the unit.

He joined 'Dainik Sangbad' in 1955 after working as a journalist for three years in 'Dainik Satyajug' published from Calcutta. He has served as Pabna correspondent in reputed dailies like The Daily Morning News, Daily Observer, The New Nation and The Daily Star.

Since 2001, he voluntarily retired and wrote columns as a freelance journalist.

In 2018, he was awarded Ekushey Padak, the second highest civilian award given by the government of Bangladesh, for his contribution to journalism.

Recently, Ranesh Maitra won the 'Bashundhara Media Award' for his special contribution to journalism.