filmmaker tareque masud - Dhaka Mirror

Tareque, Mishuk remembered

Admin — Sat, 15 Aug 2015 06:13:05 +0000

Celebrated filmmaker Tareque Masud and cinematographer Mishuk Munier were remembered through a commemorative event marking their fourth death anniversary at the Music and Dance Centre of
Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy on Thursday.
Both Tareque Masud and Mishuk Munier, along with three others, died in a road accident on August 13, 2011.Organised jointly by the Federation of Film Societies of Bangladesh and Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy, the programme featured candle-lighting, film screening and discussion.
Among others, filmmaker Morshedul Islam, FFSB president Lailun Nahar Semi, film researcher Dr Sajedul Awal and critic Zaid Aziz spoke at the discussion session which was chaired by Liaquat Ali Lucky, director general of BSA.
‘Tareque Masud and Mishuk Munier started their career together. The feat that they achieved in their short creative life would not have been possible without their collaboration,’ said Sajedul Awal.
‘Sadly, even four years after their deaths, Tareque’s name is singled out in a way that’s demeaning to Mishuk. It’s unfortunate,’ he added.
Zaid Aziz spoke in the same vein, saying, ‘Films such as Narosundor, Matir Moyna and Ruway would not have been made without a concerted effort by everyone involvement with their productions.’
In his speech, noted filmmaker Morshedul Islam reflected on the duo’s contributions to the new wave of filmmaking in Bangladesh aimed at taking the medium beyond its conventional role as only a source of entertainment.
Earlier, the programme commenced with the screening of Tareque Masud’s last feature Runway and short Narosundar.
The audience appreciated the masterly making of Runway that deals with issues such as fundamentalism, social intolerance and injustice.
The short film Narosundar, in which Tareque deals with the contested issue of Urdu-speaking Bihari people in Bangladesh and their role in the war of liberation, also reminded the audience of the makers’ awareness of social issues.
The programme ended with a screening of the duo’s first documentary, Adam Surat, which they made in the 1980s

-With New Age input

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Tareque Masud’s death anniversary today

Admin — Thu, 13 Aug 2015 16:15:26 +0000

Several cultural organizations will observe today the fourth death anniversary of Tareque Masud, one of the pioneers of the new wave of filmmaking in Bangladesh in the 1990s, who died this day in 2011 in a road accident along with his four colleagues including the renowned cinematographer Mishuk Munier.
Masud’s feature-length film Runway and short Narosundor will be screened at the festival. One of the most significant and influential filmmakers in the history of Bangladesh, Masud’s contribution to the film industry is manifold and far-reaching.
Born on December 6 in 1956 in Faridpur, Tareque Masud got involved with the film society movement in the late 1970s. He made his first film Adam Surat, a documentary on the legendary artist SM Sultan, in 1989.
In 1995, he along with his wife Catherine Masud made the highly acclaimed feature-length documentary on the war of independence titled Muktir Gaan, which attained the stature of a cult classic in the subsequent years.
It was, however, his full-length feature film Matir Moyna, again co-directed with his wife, which brought him international recognition. The film won one of the top awards at a special event called the Directors’ Fortnight at the International Critics’ Week that ran alongside the main festival in the city of Cannes in Southern France.
It also participated in the OSCARS as the first Bangladeshi film in the same year.
The film, a revisiting of Masud’s own past as a madrassa student addressing the Bangali-Muslim identity crisis, is itself a major event in the contemporary history of independent Bangla film.
He again approached the identity issue, from an entirely different angle this time, in his 2006 acclaimed film Ontorjatra (Inner Journey).
In his last feature, Runaway, Tareque revisited another of his favourite issues – the growing trend of fundamentalism and intolerance in the country.
Besides the features, the filmmaker has a number of critically acclaimed documentaries including Muktir Kotha (Words of Freedom) (1999), Narir Kotha (Women and War) (2000), Kansater Pothey (2008), and Naroshundor (The Barbershop) (2009) to his credit.
Tareque Masud was also the co-founder of an alternative filmmakers’ forum in Dhaka and ultimately became the central figure of alternative cine movement in Bangladesh.
This year, the commemorations will be led by Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy and Federation of Film Societies of Bangladesh (FFSB) who have taken initiatives to mark the day through discussions and a film screening session at the Music and Dance Centre of the academy.
Elsewhere, Tareque Masud Memorial Trust, dedicated to the memory of the filmmaker, will be observing the anniversary with a special commemorative event at Tareque’s home village in Faridpur.
The programme will be held in front of his house in Nurpur village. The daylong event will start at 10am with the placement of wreath at his grave. A discussion programme will begin at 3pm, with participation from local cultural personalities, educational leaders and administrative officials.
They will be joined by the trust’s chairwoman Catherine Masud, rights activist Khushi Kabir and artists Dhali Al Mamoon and Dilara Jolly. At 7pm the same day, a film screening will be held, featuring Sritikotha Runway (Remembering Runway) and Adam Surot (The Inner Strength).
In addition to the main programme, a brief ceremony will be held at the Joy Bangla Crossing in Nagarkanda to inaugurate a memorial statue dedicated in Tareque Masud’s memory.
Tareque Masud’s mother Nurun Nahar will inaugurate the monument, while local Member of Parliament Syeda Sajeda Chowdhury and Catherine Masud will attend the ceremony as special guests.

-With New Age input

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Probe body finds faults in road

Admin — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 22:19:21 +0000

The investigation committee for Saturday’s road crash, which killed filmmaker Tareque Masud and media personality Mishuk Munier, found that the poorly maintained Dhaka-Aricha highway was too narrow at the spot and had incorrect road markings.
The total road width at the spot should have been 10.3 metres, standard for a straight road, but it was only 8.7 metres, the enquiry committee found.
A member of the committee said they found that each lane at that curve of the highway were about a metre less wide than they should have been for even a straight road.
The hard shoulders on each side were supposed to be a metre and a half wide for straight roads but they found them to be just a metre wide. They also found the soft shoulder covered by bush.
The widths of the lanes, hard shoulders and the soft shoulders of the road there should have been even more than the standard of a straight road since it is a curve, but the Roads and Highway Department failed to build the road maintaining standards for straight roads even, the committee member said. The road surface was of very good quality with ample amount of grip available for assisting in braking, the member said.
“The roadside bushes were supposed to be cleared off before the rainy season, especially at curves, otherwise it obstructs visibility,” he said, requesting anonymity.
“There is a warning sign there saying no overtaking but the road markings were contradictory. It was saying overtaking was actually allowed,” the member said.
The Daily Star asked a driver which signs he follows. He said, “Drivers usually follow the road markings since signs are often hard to see as they whiz by or more often than not they are obscured by billboards or vegetation.”
The communications ministry yesterday transferred the chief of the committee before time for the probe expired. However, the committee chief claimed that their work was done and they might submit the report today.
“The average speed of the bus was over 70km. But I would accuse both drivers for their carelessness,” said Arifur Rahman, committee chief and superintendent engineer of Dhaka circle. He was transferred yesterday to the Comilla circle.
When asked how they calculated the average speed, he said they calculated the departure time of the bus, its 15-minute stopover at Savar and the time of the accident.
The bus hit the microbus 1.5 feet inside the microbus’s right edge and if the microbus driver had a fraction of a second more, he could have prevented impact.
“We have found that there was space on the microbus’s left. It did not use the road space and was on the middle of the road,” said Arif.
The committee talked to three passengers of the bus and two survivors–Saidul and Joly Mamun–of the microbus.
“The passengers mentioned a third vehicle in front of the microbus. It might have obstructed the visibility of the microbus driver making him unable to see the bus,” said committee chief Arif.
However, The Daily Star interviewed Monis Rafiq, a survivor of the microbus who was on the front seat next to the driver. He said he was looking ahead of the vehicle during the accident. “I was there. I did not see any third vehicle. There was no third vehicle. All of a sudden the bus appeared and hit us,” said Monis Rafiq when he was asked again yesterday how the accident happened.
The three-member communications ministry probe committee was asked to submit its report within seven days from last Saturday. The other two members are RHD Dhaka circle caretaker engineer Qumrul Haque and executive engineer of Manikganj RHD Sabuj Uddin Khan.

-With The Daily Star input

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Tareque Masud laid to rest

Admin — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 22:13:32 +0000

A dream unfulfilled
He had a dream. Or many dreams, to be precise. One of them was to make some epic films. According to his own words before his death, his journey to make a history in Bangla films would start with the making of Kagojer Phool (paper flower).
But the dreamer, the creator of The Clay Bird (Matir Moina), was finally laid to rest in the clay home yesterday, four days after his life was cut short in a road accident.
Four others including ATN News CEO Mishuk Munier also died on Saturday in the accident that happened on their way to meet the Manikganj deputy commissioner for permission to shoot for his “epic” film Kagojer Phool.
The internationally acclaimed filmmaker was buried around 2:40pm in the family yard of his village home at Nurpur in Faridpur, reports our district correspondent.
Friends, colleagues, family members and hundreds of well wishers remained stoic as he was put to eternal sleep. Their faces etched with grief, all stood in silence.
A shell-shocked Catherine Masud, Tareque’s widow, bid farewell to her soul mate by giving a handful of soil in his grave.
Catherine’s mother Alfreda Shapere and her brother Alfred Shapere flew from the US to attend the burial.
“I want to finish the incomplete work of Tareque,” Catherine was quoted by Helaluddin Ahmed, the deputy commissioner of Faridpur, who also attended the burial.
Born in 1956, Tareque Masud directed a number of acclaimed films including Muktir Gaan (The Song of Freedom) in 1995 and Matir Moina in 2002 which won a FIPRESCI Prize at the Cannes Film Festival of the year.
Some of his other masterpieces include Sonar Beri (The Chains of Gold), Adam Surat (Inner Strength), Ontorjatra (The Homeland), Noroshundor (The Barber) and Runway.
Earlier in the day, the ambulance carrying his body reached his village home around 12:00noon. His body was kept at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University mortuary.

-With The Daily Star input

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Mishuk laid to rest

Admin — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 11:51:05 +0000

Family, friends try in vain to get over the loss
Spending much of the last three days weeping by himself, Ahmed Munier Bhashan became numb yesterday.
The 60-year-old seasoned UN peacekeeper has lost a brother, a younger one, in a tragic road accident on Saturday.
“I couldn’t even bear to read the news…his face was everywhere,” Bhashan murmured, almost to himself, as he spoke to friends who joined him at Mishuk Munier’s burial at Banani graveyard yesterday.
Mourners and family members remained stoic as the acclaimed broadcast journalist was laid to rest around 2:00pm. Their faces etched with grief, all stood in silence.
Mishuk, chief executive officer of ATN News, was killed along with renowned filmmaker Tareque Masud and three others in a road crash in Manikganj.
Tareque will be buried today at his Nurpur village under Bhanga upazila in Faridpur.
Bhashan, who works at a UN peacekeeping mission in Sierra Leone, came home yesterday morning to attend the burial. It was held up until his arrival.
The grave Mishuk was buried in near the northern boundary of the Banani graveyard was actually the grave of his grandmother Ashrafunnesa Begum. His mother Lily Chowdhury, a theatre activist, wished to be buried there after her death.
But her 52-year-old son took her place yesterday.
“Not like this…not like this…I can’t come to terms with this,” said Kazi Monjuly, Mishuk’s widow, as the burial took place. She then burst into tears and threw herself in someone’s arms.
Mishuk had migrated to Canada in 2002 after the closure of ETV where he worked. He moved back to Dhaka and joined ATN News in November last year.
“He came back for Ma,” said Bhashan. And then, overcome by emotion, he went silent.
“He used to complain that ma was getting thin. He decided to return so he could take care of her.”
But the mother will have to live with this.
“I will recover from this shock as I have my family and children. But Ma…,” he stopped short.
The father, Munier Chowdhury, never returned home after he was taken away by the collaborators of the Pakistani forces on December 14, 1971.
Forty years later, the family lost another member.
“Fake driving licence, untrained drivers, whatever it may be, these must stop,” demanded Bhashan. “I hope these stop or else his death will go in vain.”
“We are frustrated,” says Asif Munier Chowdhury, the youngest of the three siblings.
“I hear they [the government] have formed a committee to probe how it happened. But what is the point of looking into it now? What is the point of pointing fingers at someone now?
“If we had CCTV camera on that section of the street, like they have in western countries, then it could have been effective. But with some scattered interviews from witnesses and isolated evidence, this is pointless.
“What has happened has happened and we don’t want to play the blame game,” he said.
Asif hopes the authorities will wake up from their slumber and take steps so that nobody else is lost like this.

-With The Daily Star input

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Bus driver arrested

Admin — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 01:11:40 +0000

He blames microbus driver
The driver of the bus that killed five persons, including filmmaker Tareque Masud and media personality Ashfaque Munier Mishuk, in Manikganj on Saturday was arrested yesterday from Gangni upazila of Meherpur.
A team of Detective Branch (DB) of Police from Dhaka in cooperation with Meherpur DB picked up bus driver Jamir Uddin, 50, from Chougachha village around 12:30am and brought him to Dhaka in the morning.
Senior Assistant Commissioner of DB Mashiur Rahman, who led the arrest, told The Daily Star, “Jamir was hiding in the residence of a sister of his second wife in a bid to escape to India.”
The driver was yesterday produced before a press briefing at the DB headquarters on Minto Road where he claimed himself innocent and blamed the driver of the microbus, which collided head-on with his bus, for the accident.
He said, “I was on my way to Aricha from Dhaka and it was raining heavily. When I spotted the microbus coming from the opposite direction I repeatedly honked the horn and brought down the speed of the bus to 30-40 kilometres an hour to avoid collision. But the driver of the microbus was driving rashly on the wrong side of the road.”
He claimed that he wanted to surrender immediately but fled instead fearing mob beating. From Joka, the accident spot, he went to Chapainawabganj and later to Meherpur, Jamir Uddin added.
He also claimed that he has a valid driving licence and has been driving buses for 20 years. He has been serving Chuadanga Deluxe for the last one year.
“Jamir had been driving for 20 hours non-stop without any sleep and that might have made him disorientated,” said Mashiur Rahman.
The senior assistant commissioner of DB also said that Jamir would be handed over to Manikganj police as a murder case has been filed with Ghior Police Station after the accident on August 13.
Tareque, his production crew Wasim and Jamal, Mishuk, and microbus driver Mostafizur Rahman were killed on Saturday when the Chuadanga-bound bus collided head-on with their microbus on the Dhaka-Aricha highway at Ghior in Manikganj.
Tareque’s wife Catherine Masud, painter Dhali Al Mamun, his wife Dilara Zaman Jolly and production staff Saidul Islam sustained injuries in the accident.
The team was going to Manikganj town to meet the district deputy commissioner for permission to shoot for Tareque’s latest project “Kagojer Phool” after visiting a shooting spot in Shibalaya upazila.

-With The Daily Star input

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A survivor’s tale

Admin — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 00:51:41 +0000

Monis narrates how the accident happened
“I was unconscious for a moment,” said Monis Rafique. “I woke up and tried to remember what actually happened,” he added. Monis survived completely unharmed the Manikganj road tragedy that killed journalist Mishuk Munier and film maker Tareque Masud. He is the assistant director of Tareque’s next film “Kagojer phool” and also a documentary film maker.
He described to The Daily Star, what happened right before and after the fatal road accident.
“It was raining while we were coming back from Salzana village after spending three hours on the first working day with Tareque Masud.”
“Sitting in the front passenger seat, I was watching raindrops rolling down the windshield and the window glass.”
“Suddenly I saw a bus rushing towards us. It was the end of everything, I thought,” said Monis, still traumatised.
“I closed my eyes. Instantly my mother’s face came to my mind,” he said.
“Where was I, what happened, everything was lost. At the right side there was something on my arm.”
“I found, it was the smashed body of Mustafiz, the microbus driver.”
“I heard a woman’s voice wailing from far away, Tareque! Tareque!!”
It was Katherine, trying to wake Tareque Masud up.
Five of them were sitting in the back seats of the microbus, facing each other. Tareque Masud and Katherine just behind the front seats; Dilara Zaman Jolly, Dhali-Al Mamun, and Mishuk were sitting just opposite Tareque and Katherine.
“They were talking about the colourful days of their university life.”
“Tareque Masud was my teacher. So, I did not join their conversation.”
Asked, does he remember anything about their last conversation, Monis said, “I remember, somebody called Tareque sir on his cellphone and informed him that Nishad was unwilling to drink milk.”
“Don’t worry, we are coming back,” Monis quoted Tareque as saying to the caller.
At one stage, Dhali Al Mamun asked Mishuk Munier, “What about your son, is he like you? Wandering around old Dhaka and tasting foods of different restaurant?” Monis tried to recall the conversation.
“My son is very adorable,” Mishuk smiled and said his son did not need to go to old Dhaka for food. “I cook all those food for him,” he said.
“Rain started before we reached Dhaka-Aricha highway,” Monis went on.
There was a discussion about rainfall, and the knowledge of farmers about weather forecast. Mishuk Munier said many village people can exactly forecast rain.
They just wet the tip of a finger with saliva, feel the wind with that and can forecast rain, Mishuk told his friends.
Both the friends, Tareque Masud and Mishuk Munier did not like the latest position of the government regarding the indigenous ethnic minorities of the country, Monis said.
Then he remembered some more of the conversations.
“Tareque sir was caring about me. He reminded me to fasten my seat belts,” said Monis in a choked voice, “First I fastened the waist belt and then the cross belt, without thinking anything.”
Just a few minutes after that the accident happened, Monis recalled.
“The car was twisted,” he said adding, “I found a lot of blood around me, and my head was blank.”
“I took off my seat belt and found myself completely unharmed. I jumped off the seat and ran to Tareque sir. He and Mishuk sir were lying on the street.”
“I checked Tareque sir’s heart beat. His face was deformed. He was no more.”
“Then I ran to Mishuk sir, he was face down on the street. I turned him to see his face.”
“I should not have seen it,” said Monis.
He said he liked Mishuk Munier since the first meeting due to his charming personality.
Katherine was still wailing, “Tareque, Tareque.”
“I heard, another woman’s voice calling Mamun! Mamun!”
“All of these happened in just a few seconds,” Monis said.
“It was Jolly apa calling Dhali Al Mamun, the art director of Kagojer Phool.”
“Just few minutes back, I told these two friends Tareque Masud and Mishuk Munier that I wanted to make a documentary on them as they worked together on Adam Surat, the documentary on artist SM Sultan.”
“I tried and was able to stop a car passing by and sent Katherine, Dhali Al Mamun, and Dilara Zaman Jolly, to a hospital.”
Then he called Morshedul Islam, another film director and a friend of Tareque and Mishuk. He informed Morshedul about his friends’ death.
“He could not believe, so I had to describe twice or thrice that Tareque Masud and Mishuk Munier died in the road accident.”
“A few minutes later Tanvir Mokammel called, and asked if sending of a helicopter would save them.”
“I said, no, they are already dead.”
“The man went away without making his dream film, Kagojer Phool, he was working to build a set for the movie at Salzana village for the last two years,” Monis said about Tareque.
“Tareque Masud offered me a job to do some research work and to assist him in direction.”
“The film was supposed to be a prequel to his earlier film Matir Myna.”
Monis said Tareque Masud created a character, Mazhar, in light of two characters in his own life. One of those two characters was his guru artist SM Sultan, and the other was his father Moshiur Rahman Masud who had been a student of Kolkata Presidency College before India-Pakistan partition.
The famine of 1944, India-Pakistan partition, Hindu-Muslim riots, cultural movement of the Bangalee people in Kolkata, and many other aspects of history were the subject of Tareque’s planned movie “Kagojer Phool”.
Artist Zainul Abedin was a character of the film as well.
“After some time police came and I got a call from Morshedul Islam. He said ‘Monish wait, we are coming’.”
When The Daily Star asked Monis if he had gone to see Katherine in the hospital, he said, “No. What will I say to her when I meet her.”

-With The Daily Star input

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Of anger, agony

Admin — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 00:37:37 +0000

Stunned at the tragic deaths of Tareque Masud and Ashfaque Munier Mishuk, eminent citizens remind everyone that Saturday’s car crash is one of thousands of accidents that turn the country’s road network into virtual death traps.
They blame the government for stomaching this “road terrorism” that “murders” thousands every year and demanded immediate resignation of the communications minister for his inaction.
“This is humiliating that we had to lose [Masud and Mishuk] in such a way,” lamented Kamal Lohani, a journalist and noted cultural personality.
“He [the communications minister] should be embarrassed with the incident and should resign immediately.”
Kamal Lohani was speaking to journalists at the Central Shaheed Minar premises yesterday. He was among hundreds of others who gathered to pay their last respects to Masud, an internationally renowned filmmaker and Mishuk, a noted media personality, who died in a fatal road accident on Saturday.
The two were among some 4,000 people who die in around 20,000 road crashes across the country every year, according to Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) statistics.
In addition, a quarter of a million people sustain minor to fatal injuries in the accidents, adding to the increasing number of people without limbs.
Some mourners at the tribute giving ceremony said if carnages on this scale were the result of terrorist actions, the entire country would be in an uproar. They demanded that the government and the police do something immediately.
“When did wholesale death by automobile become an unavoidable natural phenomenon?” asked Faruq, a Dhaka University student who introduced himself as a budding filmmaker and avid admirer of Tareque Masud’s works.
Yet for some reason the problem draws scant public attention unless it involves a striking case like that one on Saturday, he said.
Columnist Abul Maqsood refused to call these clashes mere accidents.
“These are murders. Tareque and Mishuk were murdered,” he said. “We, the nation, have committed this murder. And of course our government is also responsible as it’s up to them to make the roads safe.”
Road safety remains a grave concern because of an abundance of drivers with fake licences, unfit vehicles and mismanagement in the transport sector, said Asaduzzaman Noor, a popular media personality and lawmaker of ruling Awami League.
“The government should be bold against misdeeds in roads and traffic. Any form of compromise, and this sector would mean losses of more lives.”
At least 34 people were injured and 10 dead in road accidents across the country over the last two days, according to newspapers and sources at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH).
Advocate Sultana Kamal, former advisor to the caretaker government, refused to put the entire blame on unruly drivers for these accidents.
“Everyone starting from the people who dish out the driving licences, those who design the roads and the drivers themselves should be brought before the people and tried,” she said.
“We demand a stop to this carnage from this very moment!” she added.

-With The Daily Star input

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Mourners bid bye in tears

Admin — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 00:34:01 +0000

The Central Shaheed Minar premises turned into a grieving ground yesterday with hundreds of mourners pouring in to pay their last respects to Tareque Masud and Ashfaque Munier Mishuk.
Internationally acclaimed filmmaker Tareque and ATN News chief executive officer Mishuk were killed along with three others in a road crash on Dhaka-Aricha highway on Saturday. They were on their way to meet the Manikganj deputy commissioner for permission to shoot for Tareque’s new film “Kagojer Phool” after visiting a shooting spot.
The Shaheed Minar ground was almost filled with people from all walks of life before the scheduled start time at 10:30am. Many had to wait on the adjacent street to pay their tributes.
Friends, co-workers, teachers, intellectuals, lawyers, politicians, academicians, journalists, cultural personalities, civil society members, rights activists, students and diplomats were among those who placed wreaths on their coffins.
Representatives of President Zillur Rahman and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina also placed wreaths on their behalf.
“This is something you just cannot accept,” said Aly Zaker, media personality and a close acquaintance of Tareque.
“Masud had an outstanding talent in filmmaking. And Mishuk’s talent in the technological know-how in the field is rare in Bangladesh.
“I hope Masud’s wife Catherine and his colleagues will complete what he started. This cannot be the end of it,” he told reporters.
Born in 1956 in Faridpur, Tareque Masud directed a number of acclaimed films including Muktir Gaan (The Song of Freedom) in 1995 and Matir Moina (The Clay Bird) in 2002 which won a FIPRESCI Prize at the Cannes Film Festival of the same year.
He spent 10 years researching for Kagojer Phool, his friends said.
“Thus far it was only my beginning. My journey to make some epics starts with the Kagojer Phool,” Aly Zaker quoted Tareque as saying during a conversation.
With the loss of Tareque and Mishuk, the nation lost not only two great artists but also two complete human beings loved and respected by all, said Dhaka University Prof Asif Nazrul.
“I can’t accept their departure like this,” said noted media personality Asaduzzaman Noor.
Their bodies were later taken to Dhaka University Central Mosque, where the first namaz-e-janaza was held after Zohr prayers.
The second namaz-e-janaza took place on Zahir Raihan Laboratory premise of Bangladesh Film Development Corporation (BFDC).
Their bodies were taken from there to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University mortuary.
Masud’s body will be kept there until Catherine Masud makes a decision about his burial, family members said. Catherine, who was injured in the accident, was released from hospital yesterday evening.
Mishuk will be buried after the arrival of his brother Ahmed Munier Bhashan from the United States tomorrow.
A reputed cinematographer, Mishuk is the son of Munier Chowdhury, a 1971 martyred intellectual. He taught broadcast journalism at Dhaka University and worked with Canada-based TV channel The Real News.

-With The Daily Star input

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Punishment to culprits demanded

Admin — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 00:29:44 +0000

Tareque, Mishuk’s Death
Punishment to culprits demanded
Condolences continued to pour in yesterday on the sudden demise of eminent filmmaker Tareque Masud and Chief Executive Officer of ATN News Ashfaque Munier, popularly known as Mishuk Munier, and three others in a road accident on Saturday.
Different organisations and noted personalities in separate statements said one thing is common: The untimely departure of the two priceless talents has numbed and aggrieved the nation.
Expressing concern over the rise of road accidents, the statements said an anarchic situation is prevailing on the country’s roads and highways. They demanded a neutral investigation into the accident and exemplary punishment of the people responsible.
Tareque and Mishuk will be remembered for their creative works and continue to inspire the young generation, read the statements. The organisations prayed for salvation of the departed souls and conveyed sympathy to the bereaved families.
Nobel Laureate Prof Muhammad Yunus expressed deep shock at the deaths and said the nation will remember their creative and skilful contributions to the fields of film and journalism. “The country lost two invaluable talents,” he said.
Ekatturer Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee said it is not a mere accident but a kind of murder. The government, opposition party, transport division, roads and highways department and police cannot avoid their liabilities, they said.
They demanded of the government to formulate a provision of death penalty when someone dies after being run over and ensure exemplary punishment to the vehicle’s driver and owner if they are found responsible for the death.
They also demanded punishment to those who are providing plying permits to faulty vehicles and those who are not taking any action against people violating rules on highways.
Ain O Salish Kendra said it is the irresponsibility of the authorities concerned including policymakers, law enforcing agencies, licensing agencies and drivers which is why such accidents are occurring frequently.
It demanded of the authorities concerned to refrain from providing illegal licenses.
Karmojibi Nari said the country would keep on losing talented people like them if road accidents, which are increasing, are not prevented.
Bangladesh National Women Lawyers’ Association demanded of the government to formulate a policy which would ensure liability of all concerned in this regard.
University Grants Commission, Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy, Bangladesh Police Service Association, Bangladesh Women Chamber of Commerce and Industries, Association of Development Agencies in Bangladesh, Families United Against Road Accident, Chhayanaut, History Department of Dhaka University, Chittagong Sangskritik Kendra, Bangladesher Biplobi Workers Party, Bangladesh Jubo Moitree and Chhatra Moitree, Bangladesh Christian Association, Manush, Joy Bangla Sangskritik Oikkyajote, Safety and Rights Society, Al-Falah Bangladesh, Bangabandhu Diploma Engineers Association, Bangladesh Nari Sangbadik Kendra and Expressions Ltd in separate statements also condoled the death.
Our Chittagong correspondent adds: Leaders and activists of different socio-cultural organisations of Chittagong city under the banner “Sachetan Nagorik Samaj O Sarbastarer Sanskritik Kormi” formed a human chain at Central Shaheed Minar yesterday paying homage to the two noted personalities.
Teachers and students of Fine Arts Institute of Chittagong University also brought out a protest procession from the campus demanding safe roads and punishment to those responsible for road accidents.

-With The Daily Star input

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