Khulna: A memorial meeting and Doa Mahfil were held at the Khulna Press Club marking the 21st death anniversary of martyred journalist Sheikh Belal Uddin, former vice-president of the Khulna Press Club and Khulna bureau chief of the daily Sangram. Organised by the Khulna Press Club, the event was presided over by the club's convener Enamul Haque and jointly conducted by member secretary Rafiul Islam Tutul and executive member Ahmad Musa Ranju.
According to Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, speakers at the meeting described Sheikh Belal Uddin as a fearless journalist who never bowed to injustice. They demanded that he be posthumously awarded the Ekushey Padak and called for naming the road from Baikali Mor to Rayermohol College in the city as 'Shaheed Journalist Belal Uddin Road'. The speakers also urged the next elected government, following the upcoming national parliamentary election, to reinvestigate the murder case of Sheikh Belal Uddin and ensure punishment of those responsible.
The meeting was addressed by former Khulna Press Club president Sheikh Abu Hasan, executive members Sheikh Didarul Alam, Kaushik Dey, Ashraful Islam Noor, and Metropolitan Journalists Union Khulna president Md Rashidul Islam, among others. Earlier, leaders of the Khulna Press Club placed floral wreaths at the Shaheed Journalist Memorial Monument located on the club premises.
A one-minute silence was observed at the beginning of the programme seeking eternal peace for the departed souls of journalist Belal Uddin and other slain journalists. A Doa was also offered for the salvation of the souls of martyred and deceased journalists, conducted by the club's Imam Maulana Md Yusuf Habib.
It may be mentioned that Sheikh Belal Uddin was critically injured in a brutal bomb attack by terrorists at the Khulna Press Club premises on February 5, 2005. He later attained martyrdom on February 11 while undergoing treatment at the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) in Dhaka.