This year marks 54 years of independence, and the 73rd anniversary of the Language Movement of 1952. Today, The Daily Ittefaq also steps into its 73rd year.
This coincidence is profoundly significant. The blood-stained backdrop of Red February—the mother-tongue movement that shook the world—had not yet faded; a grave transitional period loomed with the East Pakistan Legislative Assembly elections ahead.
It was at that turbulent historical juncture that Ittefaq made its debut. First published on December 24, 1953, The Daily Ittefaq has traversed the ups and downs of the past 72 years—through storms and adversities as well as joys and successes—and today enters its 73rd year.
The Daily Ittefaq began its journey to serve a political purpose. It was the mouthpiece of a political party. Closely associated with Ittefaq at that time were Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, and Tofazzal Hossain Manik Mia—figures bound together by a common thread. Broadly speaking, Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani’s contribution was also undeniable.
Soon after its publication, the newspaper, with fearless and uncompromising defiance, shook the foundations of West Pakistan in pursuit of the country’s rightful autonomy. In the pre-independence era, this “newspaper” was the progenitor of nationalism, a relentless fighter against Western discrimination, and the vanguard of the independence movement.
The Daily Ittefaq’s explosive reports and Tofazzal Hossain Manik Mia’s unwavering commitment to democracy in a nation-state, expressed through razor-sharp prose, left the Muslim League gasping for breath and shattered its government. The Ittefaq that marches into its 73rd year today was the great hero of the 1969 mass uprising; it was the bugle-blower of the Liberation War and a fortress of resistance.
Against the hostile Pakistani ruling clique, Ittefaq’s voice rang out loud. Ignoring repression and intimidation of every kind, Ittefaq carried its message to the doorsteps of the masses.
The role The Daily Ittefaq played in giving direction to a disoriented nation is a rare example not only in this country but in the history of world journalism. Ittefaq was not merely a daily newspaper; it was an institution that invigorated democratic consciousness. In the post-independence period, Ittefaq has stood—intimately and steadfastly—on the side of the overall development and forward march of Bangladesh and its people.
To a great extent, impartial opinion, constructive criticism, indomitable courage, and an uncompromising stance—these are just a few of the qualities that have made Ittefaq the “voice of Bangladesh,” the mouthpiece of the common people. Harnessing its own legacy, Ittefaq positioned itself on history’s grand highway and earned the status of the state’s “fourth pillar.”
The towering banyan that is Ittefaq has continually sought to capture the political, economic, historical, and cultural contexts of everyday life. Within the broad canvas of its broadsheet, it digs deep to present the rhythms and nuances of the quotidian.
Standing at opposing ends of arguments and debates, it strives to remain vocally engaged in building continuous, objective counter-arguments. For an unbroken seven decades, The Daily Ittefaq has brought before the people the news unfolding across the rapidly changing, inherently uncertain, and gradually shifting spaces of the state, society, and daily life.
Even in this “metaverse” era—marked by the influential and often illusory, carefully engineered viral emotions of social media; pseudo-empowerment and pseudo-anarchism; and an ever-growing array of multi-platform newspapers, online outlets, artificial intelligence, and digital portals—the venerable and oldest “ever-young” Ittefaq stands at 73, claiming the times with its tireless, undiminishing youth.
Its constantly evolving aesthetics—covers, formats, forms, and language—continually embrace readers’ needs. That is why this traditional yet modern Daily Ittefaq keeps enchanting readers and well-wishers from one generation to the next.
Happy birthday to our beloved Ittefaq.
