Muktangon | Journalist Bibhu Ranjan Sarker: Chronicle of A Death Foretold?

20 September 2025

April is the cruelest month, breeding

Lilacs out of the dead land, … stirring

Dull roots with spring rain.

(The Waste Land by T.S. Eliot).

Is April the cruelest month in Bangladesh, too? Or August? Can the vast and torrential downpouring erase the blood-drenched assassination of our Father of the Nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, with almost all the members of his family? Or the surrealistic piles of dark, monsoon clouds can hide that blood stain? After a 21- years’ 21-year-long arduous struggle, Bangladesh could become ‘Bangladesh’ again in 1996-2001. This delta had achieved miracles of economic, infra-structural, and cultural heights during 2008-2024.

This monsoon too was no good at all. Let me be succinct now. Mystery shrouds the death of veteran journalist and columnist Bibhu Ranjan Sarker. Bangladesh is passing through one of its darkest epochs of tyranny and vandalism at present, bringing news pieces of new murders, arrests, and mob attacks every morning. It compels us to forget the saddest event of even yesterday. This is why it’s no wonder that Bibhu da’s strange but sad demise gets evaporated from our discussion within a time-frame of just around one month. Our sharply opinionated state, however, could not help but get divided upon this issue too: was Bibhu da’s death a mere suicide or a killing? Or even if a suicide, was it a ‘structured silencing’ or not?

Life and Career of the departed journo:

Late Bibhu Ranjan started his career as a schoolboy reporter for Dainik Azad and then moved to work at daily Sangbad, Rupali, and some other weeklies, according to his last writing that he e-mailed to bdnews 24.com on 21st August morning (9:15 AM on Thursday).

In this last write-up, he recollected his five-decade-long career in the press. He, however, gained popularity for his political columns in the weekly ‘Jai Jai Din’ during the mid-eighties. But he had to adopt a pen name, ‘Tarikh Ibrahim’, for publishing his fiery articles in those turbulent days of the anti-Ershad movement. ‘Chaltipatra’ and ‘Mridubhasan,’ two other weekly magazines, showcase his sheer merit and worth as a columnist cum executive editor. Sadly enough, his ‘bad time’ started with undertaking the assignment of daily Matribhumi as editor in 1999, and he never could overcome this eclipse throughout the rest of his life!

Bibhu da has further recalled how his columns once attracted applause from revered intellectuals, politicians, and contemporary authors, only to be followed by rejection of his writings from newspapers in recent years, and that his writing bills too remained unpaid.

Yes, Bibhu da’s personal frustration for his huge debts, treatment costs for his chronic diseases, including arthritis, liver disease, diabetes, and cardiac problems, along with the treatment costs for his son, lack of promotion or salary hike in his last office, ‘Ajker Patrika’ was not a secret to his close confidantes.

When death becomes too imminent: What the autopsy report suggests?

Bibhu da’s younger brother, Chiro Ranjan Sarker or Chiro da, he too is a former journalist and now a development professional, first informed on social media on 21st August (Thursday) night that his elder brother went out of his residence in Sidhdheshwari on Thursday morning for his office ‘Ajker Patrika’ in Banasree after a six days’ long leave was over. The 71-year-old journalist was supposed to return home by dusk, but he did not come back. And his son had to file a general diary with Ramna Police Station.

Meantime, Bibhuda emailed an article to bdnews24.com on Thursday morning, as already mentioned. In an appealing footnote, he implored at the end of the write-up that the newspaper authority may publish this as his final piece of writing.

Later, all of us have gone through that ‘viral’ last letter of Bhibu da, published as ‘Khola Chithi (Open Letter)’ on Friday, bdnews24.com in their opinion section, and widely circulated or shared on social media.

But there were even more bleak tales to come. After remaining missing for some prolonged, tense hours that his corpse was recovered from the mighty Meghna on 22nd August. Saleh Ahmed Pathan, chief of the Kalagachhia River Police outpost, said the remains of the 71-year-old were found floating in the river near Kalagachhia, according to a report of bdnews24.com.

The autopsy report of Bibhu da apparently seems to be nothing unusual. No external or internal injuries were identified on his corpse during an autopsy at Munshiganj General Hospital, according to various news reports.

The post-mortem was conducted at Munshiganj General Hospital on 23rd August at approximately 11:30 am, before police and family members of the late journalist.

Dr Sheikh Md Ehsanul Islam, residential medical officer (RMO) of the hospital, who carried out the autopsy, affirmed press regarding the recovery of the body from the river and that it was in a mildly decomposed condition.

On the other hand, Bibhuranjan Sarker’s younger brother, Chiroranjan Sarker, told the press that they will wait for the final autopsy report.

Earlier, the journalist’s son, Wreet Sarker, said to the press that blood was coming from his father’s nose, and there were some signs of injury, according to a TBS Report on August 23.

Wreet further narrated that his father has always been a calm and composed person. On Thursday morning, too, he took his breakfast and insulin and then left the house. Before leaving, the journalist told his wife that he would be back home by 5 pm. As he was getting delayed, his family members tried to call him but found the phone switched off.

Common sense may naturally suggest us that why a 71-year-old senior citizen will float on the Meghna near Gajaria rather than committing suicide by taking poison or hanging himself from a fan in his own home. But who will question whom?

Interestingly enough, a Pakistani website clearly states: ‘According to The CSR Journal, Sarkar had faced sustained intimidation and was forced on leave shortly before his death. In an open letter, he accused the interim government’s chief advisor’s press secretary, Shafiqul Alam, of issuing threats after an editorial article published on August 14 angered authorities.

The disputed piece, written by CPB leader Mazharul Islam Babla, suggested militant involvement in recent protests. Following the article, Alam allegedly threatened the paper with license revocation, named eight journalists as “friends of fascists,” and pressured management to dismiss them.

Colleagues said Sarkar was devastated by the ordeal and sought guidance from the editor, but was ignored. Days later, his body was found in the river.

Elusive Press Freedom

Last but not least, Bibhu da narrated the suffocating condition of the post-July media in Bangladesh. Press freedom, in fact, is no easy coinage to fully implement even in Western countries, let alone in Bangladesh! Remember the life-long ordeal of Julian Assange? So maybe the media was not 100 percent free during the pre-July 2024 days, too, but at least we did not keep our every political post of dissent in a ‘customized’ setting on social media.

No, the so-called ‘monsoon revolution’ just strengthened the fear of retribution within the editors and journalists for speaking against any anomalies of the authorities. The post-July interim government, which calls for replacing ‘secularism’ with ‘pluralism’, in addition, has just strengthened the saddle of minority persecution far heavier than before. This is why the veteran journo had to ponder over his daughter’s doomed career as a doctor in the post-July government service and his son’s inability to manage a job even after graduating from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET).

Structural vs. Voluntary Death: The ‘Animal Farms’ we live in

Suppose Bibhu da has committed suicide and nobody killed him! Still, was it any ‘voluntary’ death or was it too a structured killing? Do we remember the symbolist, satirical novel ‘Animal Farm’ by George Orwell? What has the great sage, the immortal seer, Orwell has conveyed to us by this epic novel?

It was about this time that the pigs suddenly moved into the farmhouse and took up their residence there. Again, the animals seemed to remember that a resolution against this had been passed in the early days, and again Squealer was able to convince them that this was not the case. It was absolutely necessary, he said, that the pigs, who were the brains of the farm, should have a quiet place to work in. Boxer passed it off as usual with ‘Napoleon is always right!’, but Clover, who thought she remembered a definite ruling against beds, went to the end of the barn and tried to puzzle out the Seven Commandments which were inscribed there. Finding herself unable to read more than individual letters, she fetched Muriel.

‘Muriel,’ she said, ‘read me the Fourth Commandment. Does it not say something about never sleeping in a bed?’

With some difficulty Muriel spelt it out.

‘It says, ‘No animal shall sleep in beds with sheets.’

(Page 26, Animal Farm).

Thus, the ‘Seven Commandments’ of the Animal Farm begin to be revised for the ‘pigs’ or the ruling class of the farm. Other animals get deprived of the milk they extract from the cows or the apples they grow on the apple trees, and everything goes to the pigs, and some animals become more ‘equal’ gradually, although all animals were supposed to be equals during the beginning of the revolution.

Orwell, an early-youth communist and later disillusioned, initially plotted the novel as a sarcastic portrayal of the authoritarian communism of the Soviet Union, and he, in particular, ridiculed Stalin, who took over the Soviet state authority during the last days of Lenin in his deathbed and later killed his comrade Trotsky. The character of Stalin is portrayed through the pig Napoleon, and Trotsky’s character has been sketched through the character of Snowball. There is also the character of old horse Boxer, who never protests any unjust ruling by Napoleon or always keeps his faith in the ‘revolution of the animals.’ But because of too hard work, too little pay, refusing to take a day off from work after getting a bullet struck in a war with the enemies that the obedient Boxer becomes very sick and unable to work in his last life. Napoleon sends Boxer to a butcher’s house under the pretext of sending him to a hospital in a large city, and the rest of the simple, naive animals on the farm feel content with it.

And what’s about the animal farms around us? From commercial establishments to the holy media houses?

Despite the cabinet committee of the then Bangladesh government having okayed the report on the 9th wage board award on July 25th of 2019 (https://www.tbsnews.net/bangladesh/cabinet-committee-okays-report-9th-wage-board-award), it is the ‘Newspaper Owners’ Association in Bangladesh (NOWAB)’ that has been cancelling the demands of the journalists to implement it till the reports of last year in various news reports.

Earlier, according to the Eighth Wage Board structure, the basic salary of an Editor is only 35,875/ taka, and including house rent and other allowances, the sum total is not more than 80,000 BDT. Basic salary of the Executive Editor, News Editor, and Special Correspondent is not more than 31,850 BDT. Basic salary of ‘Senior Reporter’ is 24,106 BDT, and the Staff Reporter is only 15,925 BDT. Despite mentioning some other allowances, hardly any are implemented.

‘Animal Farm,’ in a nutshell, appears to be a mirror of every office, every institution, or every organization. Either you become one of the cunning pigs or a hardworking, loyal but non-recognized ‘Boxer.’ No matter how hard you work like the old horse Boxer or keep your faith and loyalty intact in the system, you will always be deprived of the milk, the apples, and the right to sleep in bed. You cannot attend work one hour later like the pigs in the farm, and although you attend duly on time, you work for longer hours, your contribution remains always ‘under-evaluated’ or ignored.

Where the mind is without fear:

‘Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high…where words come out from the depth of truth’ reads well only in poetic verses by Tagore and remains elusive. In a sharp contrast to those poetic lines, Bibhu da had to write: ‘Looking back at my own life, I feel that ‘living by writing the truth is not easy.’

Hence in this system, either you become one of the pigs with least work and largest share of the benefits or you become the old and wounded horse Boxer, toiling to the last drop of your blood for the system and sent by the authority to the butcher’s house…sent to forced leave of six days by the media house and basically fired from the job, just for your body to be recovered in the mighty Meghna?

Bibhu Ranjan Sarker’s death, whether by his own hand or by the system’s cruelty, is less a mystery than a mirror. It shows us what becomes of truth-tellers in a land where Orwell’s pigs have rewritten all the commandments, and where Tagore’s fearless mind remains only a verse, not a reality.

End Note:

Shweta Irina

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