Aspiration to retire in village home residence remained unfulfilled

When I received a telephone call from a well-wisher in New York, it was about 7am in the United States. At that hour, I typically escort my child to school, so I was unable to answer the call. When I returned the call shortly thereafter, the individual on the other end inquired, "Brother, have you heard the news?" "What news?" I responded.

“Have you heard that Toufique Bhai has died?”

For a moment, I was stunned. My mind went completely numb. I later made some inquiries and confirmed that Toufique Imrose Khalidi, editor-in-chief of bdnews24.com, was no more. I could not concentrate on anything after that. I did not even go to the office.

I sat down to write, but could not bring myself to do it. For the first time, I understood what it means for grief to leave a person speechless, to make someone forget even how to compose themselves. I began writing this piece about 12 hours after receiving the news of his death.

I acknowledge that this composition will not conform to conventional writing standards. Nevertheless, even at this present moment, I encounter considerable difficulty in contemplating the composition of a commemorative piece dedicated to Toufique Imrose Khalidi.

Approximately one week prior to the composition of this article, I engaged in what would prove to be my final conversation with him.

At that juncture, he was situated in Paris. He communicated to me his intention to proceed from Paris to London and subsequently return to Bangladesh following September 30.

On October 1, I texted him to ask whether he had returned home. He didn’t reoly. He would normally respond within minutes of receiving a message. This time, he did not. I did not want to bother him again. I assumed he might be on a flight and that was why he had not replied.

That reply never came.Instead, news came of his final departure.

Toufique Imrose Khalidi was an inspiration to me in both writing and journalism. I first became aware of him nearly 15 years ago through a Citycell advertisement, when I had just entered university. His direct manner and confidence immediately caught my attention.

Later, I worked as a Rajshahi University correspondent for bdnews24.com, but I never had the opportunity to meet him in person.
Eventually, I left Bangladesh. While pursuing my PhD in Japan, I continued working in journalism on the side. During my decade-long association with bdnews24.com, I first spoke to him online during an official meeting held by the organisation amid the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

After that, we occasionally exchanged messages and spoke over the phone. Over the past year, however, we spoke much more frequently—at least three or four times a month.

In May this year, he suddenly came to the United States. It was not something he had planned in advance. The week before his arrival, he had told me, “We talk, but we never get to meet. We should meet.”

Out of courtesy, I had replied, “Let me know if you come to the US. We’ll meet.”

He surprised me completely. He called after boarding his flight and said, “Buy a plane ticket. I’m coming to New York tomorrow morning. We’ll meet.”

I was stunned.

The flight from California to New York takes about six hours. After finishing work, I boarded a flight to New York that night. I arrived the next morning at his hotel, where he was still asleep.

I then spent four consecutive days with him, taking him around New York and Washington, D.C.

Those days gave me a close-up understanding of why he was a “news-maker.”

Even while abroad, he could become concerned about a single word in a published report. On one occasion, he immediately called colleagues at the office and suggested replacing a particular word with one that he felt was more accurate.

That attention to even a single word was one of the qualities that set him apart.

It would take thousands of words to recount all my memories of Toufique Imrose Khalidi.

During the final months of his life, we spoke regularly. He shared with me his thoughts on the country's media, history, the backgrounds of political figures and the broader currents of international politics.

He also shared his dreams. One day, I asked him why he was telling me so much.

“I’m telling you these things so that one day you can write about them and talk about them,” he said.
Today, I realise that those words were, in a sense, an entrustment of responsibility.

He often spoke about his vision for bdnews24.com and what he wanted its future to look like. He had plans to retire from his position as editor.

He had even told me what he wanted to do after retirement.
He had bought a piece of land in a remote village in Tangail—a fact very few people knew about.

He planned to build a small house there and spend his days quietly, away from the noise of the city. He wanted to keep some distance from everyone, including friends, and live a more secluded life.

I once told him, “You can retire, but how will you stay away from the news?”

He laughed and replied, “That may not be possible.” News was in his blood. It was part of his very breath.
His struggles to build bdnews24.com, his dreams for the organisation and the path he envisioned for turning those dreams into reality made a deep impression on me.

He had helped transform one of Bangladesh's first online news organisations into one of the country's major media institutions.

His vision was always directed toward what lay ahead.

Toufique Bhai was particularly excited about bdnews24.com's 20th anniversary. He had planned to travel to China to purchase items for the anniversary celebrations. From there, he was supposed to travel to Paris and London before returning home.

But he was defeated by the cruel finality of death. He never got to see the celebration for which he had made so many plans.

Toufique Imrose Khalidi was undoubtedly a mentor to me and an inspiration for my work in journalism.
When someone becomes an ideal for another person, many things about that person naturally become special. Yet even from an objective perspective, it is difficult to find many people who did not admire Toufique Imrose Khalidi.

This nation witnessed how a person could become a true news-maker.
It would not be an exaggeration to say that he was perhaps the only complete editor in Bangladesh who rose from the ranks of a field reporter to become an editor through his own intellect, professional ability and merit.

He taught us, through example, how to remain steadfast in our commitment to journalism without bowing to powerful forces, and how to weather storms without compromising our principles.

Journalists trained in his newsroom are now serving at media organisations across the country, carrying those lessons with them.
He has left us physically, but he will never leave our hearts.

He will live on through the institution he built, through the countless journalists he mentored and through his unwavering devotion to the power and precision of words.

Toufique Bhai, it is difficult to accept that you had to leave us so soon.
I will carry throughout my life the responsibility of writing down and passing on the things you entrusted to me through the conversations we had.

May you be at peace wherever you are.


Dr Nadim Mahmud, author and researcher