Dhaka: The government has appointed Abu Abdullah M Saleh, known as Saleh Shibly, as the Press Secretary to the Prime Minister, granting him the status of secretary on a contractual basis. In a separate decision, Atikur Rahman Rumon has been named Additional Press Secretary, also on a contractual basis. These appointments were confirmed through separate notifications issued by the Ministry of Public Administration.
According to United News of Bangladesh, Shibly has previously held the position of Press Secretary to Tarique Rahman, the Chairman of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), starting January 3. Rumon has been actively involved in the BNP Media Cell for an extended period. Shibly has played a significant role in managing press and administrative duties under Tarique Rahman and was appointed as the head of the BNP press coordination team formed on November 1 of the previous year.
Shibly’s journalism career began as a campus reporter for the Daily Banglabazar during his time as a Public Administratio
n student at the University of Dhaka, where he later completed his Master’s degree. He has amassed extensive experience in the media industry, having worked for multiple outlets, including the news agency United News of Bangladesh (UNB), the Daily Manab Zamin, Radio Today, and Channel i. During the tenure of the four-party alliance government, he served as First Secretary (Press) at the Bangladesh Deputy High Commission in Kolkata.
Shibly’s contributions extend beyond journalism, with several articles on women’s empowerment published in Asian Bridge, a magazine of the Kitakyushu Forum on Asian Women. While overseas, he served as Executive Editor of the London-based Bengali-language television channel Channel S and earned a PhD with a focus on media and public administration. He also held the position of Non-Resident Fellow at the Sydney Policy and Analysis Centre.
Shibly returned to Bangladesh on December 25 on the same flight as Tarique Rahman from the United Kingdom. Additionally, he is the author of the
book “Tarique Rahmaner Nishiddha Bhashan” (The Forbidden Speeches of Tarique Rahman).