Bashundhara Group Distribute Tk 20 lacs

Journalist community leaders and a noted academic with one voice called for others to emulate the instance as Bashundhara Group, country’s leading business conglomerate, Saturday gave Tk 2 million in humanitarian assistance to Mahir Sarwar Megh, the orphaned son of slain journalist-couple Sagar and Runi, and three other victim families. The family members of the victims and Megh received cheques for the donated money in the conference room of East West Media Group Ltd situated in Bashundhara Residential Area in the capital. Prof AK Azad Chowdhury, chairman of the University Grants Commission (UGC), was present at the programme as chief guest while Mustafa Kamal Mohiuddin, chairman of the East West Media Group Ltd, presided. Under its Corporate Social Responsibility, Bashundhara Group distributed Tk 1.5 million to Megh which will be deposited as fixed deposit and he will get Tk 15,000 per month to meet his expenses. The boy can withdraw the entire amount of money when he will be adult at 20/22 years of age. The other recipients are the family members of Bibhas Chandra Saha, senior reporter of English daily the Independent, and photojournalist Shahiduzzaman Titu who were killed in separate road accidents in the capital recently. They received Tk 200,000 each. Tapati Bhuiyan, the widow of Bibhas Chandra Saha, and Abdullah Tashin, son of Shahiduzzaman Titu, received the cheques on behalf of their family members. The group also gave away Tk 100,000 to Arifur Rahman Sohel, canteen assistant of the National Press Club, for his medication. He lost both of his kidneys. Family members of Hazrat Ali, who sacrificed his life while trying to save two women from hijackers, and bus-driver Badar Ali, who was burnt alive during hartal, will also get Tk 200,000 each soon. Prof AK Azad Chowdhury said that the Bashundhara Group set an example of serving humanity by assisting these victims. “Lots of affluent people are there in Bangladesh but very few of them come forward to serve humanity,” he said, hoping that the other business groups or individuals will come forward following the example of Bashundhara Group from now on. “Bashundhara Group has long been trying to stand beside humanity for long and it will serve the country’s people always,” said Mustafa Kamal Mohiuddin, chairman of the East West Media Group Ltd, on behalf of Bashundhara Group Chairman Ahmed Akbar Sobhan. He also stressed the urgency of finding the facts and the guilty persons who have committed the cruelest incident by killing journalist-couple Sagar Sarwar and Maherun Runi. Earlier, the Bashundhara Group had donated one-million taka (Tk 10 lakh) each to the relatives of journalists Dinesh Das and Pothik Saha while the business house spent Tk 3.5 million for treatment of journalist Nikhil Bhadra. Dinesh was killed in a road accident and Pothik died of heart attack. Nikhil lost his leg in an accident. Among others, daily sun acting Editor Jamilur Rahman, Daily Kaler Kantho Editor Emdadul Haque Milon, Bangladesh Protidin Editor Nayeem Nizam, banglanews24.com Editor-in-Chief Alamgir Hossain, Media Adviser to the BG Chairman Mohammad Abu Tayeb, Kamal Uddin Sabuj, president the National Press Club, BFUJ secretary-general Abdul Jalil Bhuiyan, Shakawat Hossain Badsha, president of Dhaka Reporter’s Unity, and Ahmed Zubaer, managing director of Somoy TV, attended the meeting.