DHAKA, Feb 4, 2020 (BSS) – The government today reappointed Abul Kalam
Azad as the Managing Director and Chief Editor of state-run national news
agency Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS) for two more years with the status
of a secretary to the government, an official statement said.
A career journalist, Azad has been serving as the national news agency
chief since 2014 with the same status while previously he was entrusted with
the position of Prime Minister’s Press Secretary from 2009 to 2014.
Earlier, he served as the Press Minister at the Bangladesh Embassy in the
United States and upon returning from Washington D.C. in 2002, he was made
the Press Secretary to Awami League President and the then Leader of the
Opposition Sheikh Hasina.
Azad made his debut as a journalist in the Dainik Ittefaq in 1973 and
subsequently emerged as well as a professional leader by virtue of his
quality as a trade unionist.
He was elected as the general secretary and subsequently president of
Dhaka Union of Journalists (DUJ) and later became the secretary general and
president of Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists (BFUJ), the apex body of
the country’s journalist community.
Alongside his career as a journalist and union leader, Azad served as a
member of Dhaka University Senate, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical
University (BSMMU) syndicate, Press Institute of Bangladesh (PIB) Board of
Directors, Bangladesh Press Council and Bangladesh Film Censor Board.