DHAKA: Veteran journalist ABM Musa passed away at Labaid hospital in the city on Wednesday noon.
He was 83.
He breathed his last around 1:45pm when he underwent treatment at the hospital.
Musa’s daughter Parvin Sultan Jhuma confirmed the matter to banglanews.
President M Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina expressed their deep shock at the death of eminent journalist ABM Musa.
Earlier, he had been kept on life-support at a city hospital from Monday night.
He was suffering from severe blood-cell related disease Myelo-dysplastic syndrome.
On March 29, he was admitted to hospital for the first time. Then he was taken to incentive care unit several times.
Born at Dhormopur village in Feni in February 28, 1931, Musa began his professional career in journalism with the Daily Insaf in 1950 and later joined the Daily Pakistan Observer that year as a reporter.
He joined the Bengali daily Sangbad when the Pakistani ruler shut the Observer during the 1952 Language Movement and returned there after the reopening the newspaper in 1954.
At the Observer, he was performed the duty as News Editor till 1971. He reported for the BBC and the Sunday Times during the 1971 Liberation War.
After independence, he also performed the duty of the director general (DG) of Bangladesh Television and the editor on the daily Morning News.
He was elected as a member of parliament in the first general election after the independence. Musa joined as regional director of United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) in 1978.
Back to the country, he was the DG of Press Institute of Bangladesh from 1981 to 1985 and the managing director and chief editor of Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha from 1985 to 1987.
In 2004, he was the editor of Bengali daily Jugantor for a while.
A founder member of the National Press Club, Musa, a renowned pressman and columnist, contributed in the different fields of journalism during his 64 years of professional life.
He received many awards including Ekushey Padak.
**President, PM mourn Musa’s death
BDST: 1450 HRS, APR 09, 2014
