People from all walks of life paid rich tributes yesterday to the late Daily Samakal editor and freedom fighter Golam Sarwar.
The 75-year-old died in a Singapore hospital on Monday night and was buried at Mirpur Martyred Intellectual Graveyard with full state honours on Thursday afternoon.
“He was the lighthouse of the media (and) this light will never go out,” Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury said after paying her respects. “Sarwar played an active role in ensuring media freedom in Bangladesh.”
The tributes began as Sarwar's body was taken to Samakal offices in Tejgaon around 9am on Thursday, where his colleagues paid their last respects and the third janaza was held.
“I will always feel the lack of Golam Sarwar; this loss is irrevocable,” Samakal Publisher AK Azad said.
Mustafiz Shafi, acting editor of the newspaper, said Sarwar had taken the level of journalism to an unachievable height. “He was a lighthouse for journalists, showing everyone else the right path with his light.”
Sarwar's body was then taken to the Central Shaheed Minar for people to pay their last tribute to the late freedom fighter and veteran journalist.
Around 1pm, his remains were carried to the National Press Club, where his fellow journalists paid their last respects and formed a guard of honour following his fourth namaz-e-janaza after the Zohr prayers.
“He (Sarwar) wanted to work from behind the curtains when we were forming the Editors’ Council,” Daily Star Editor Mahfuz Anam, who is also the general secretary of the Editors’ Council, said. “But we made him the president, because we knew that the organization would make it only under his leadership.”
National Press Club General Secretary Farida Yasmin said she could not imagine the organisation without him. “I had become so used to going to him for advice and cooperation... The whole journalist society will sorely miss him,” she said.
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Military Secretary Maj Gen Md Sarwar Hossain paid homage to Golam Sarwar on behalf of Bangladesh President Abdul Hamid, while Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was represented by her media affairs adviser Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury and her deputy press secretary Md Ashraful Alam Khokan.
“Losing a guardian like Sarwar is irreparable,” Information Minister Hasanul Haq Inu said.
Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader said the veteran journalist was uncompromising when it came to Bangladesh’s Liberation War and Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
“Sarwar was a very kind, amicable and grounded person,” he said. “His writing was magical. We lost him at a time when we needed him the most.”
Shocked by the demise of his friend, Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed told reporters: “He was always devoted to his work. He not only fought in the Liberation War but also played a crucial role in creating a powerful media in Bangladesh.”
After his death on Monday, Golam Sarwar’s body arrived in Dhaka from Singapore on Tuesday night.
It was flown to his birthplace at Banaripara, Barisal on Wednesday at noon, where the first janaza was held.
Sarwar’s body was brought back to the capital at around 5pm that day, and his second janaza was held at Uttara.
Golam Sarwar's eldest son, Golam Shahriar Ranju, told reporters that although his father may be gone, he will never be forgotten.
“My father will always be alive in his work,” he said.
