Most people who knew Mahmud Bhai will of course remember him for his kind nature, his affectionate personality, and his generosity towards others. They will also remember him for his patriotism and love for Bangladesh. They will recall how excitedly he followed the developments of the late sixties as the nation gradually became united under Bangabandhu, and how enthusiastically he helped people, especially the young, to join the Mukti Bahini and fight for the liberation of our Sonar Bangla.

Like all patriotic Bengalis, his happiness knew no bound when independence came and the genocidal Pakistani army was defeated at the hands of the Indian army ably helped by our own valiant freedom fighters. Like all of us, he dreamt about building a new Bangladesh of freedom, prosperity, and peace. But here Mahmud Bahi was a bit different. He had a special focus on the poor that I rarely saw in others.

In everything he said, thought, or did, he would bring out the question of the poor. His one and only question was, how will it ultimately help the poorest in our society. It was this singular concern that prompted him to be associated with several philanthropic and non-governmental organisations, the most famous among them being Brac, where he served as a board member from the late seventies till early 2001.

I will confine my today's personal tribute to the founding managing director of Mediaworld Ltd., the owning company of The Daily Star, and its first publisher, to the role he played in setting up this paper and in the development of print and electronic media in this country. Whatever modest contribution this newspaper has made to Bangladesh, the credit for it goes to the unique group of its founders, a significant member of which was AS Mahmud.

As one of the core founders of this newspaper, he played a pivotal role in bringing the other founding directors together and forming them into a cohesive and functioning group. It may be recalled that except for Mr SM Ali and myself, none of the other directors were ever involved in the media nor did they have any immediate plans for doing so.

It was largely due to the enthusiasm, faith and energy of Mahmud Bhai that everyone else felt inspired about a new English language newspaper. Of course the reputation, ability, experience and personal elegance and charm of our founding editor, SM Ali worked its own magic on the other directors, still it was Mahmud Bhai's untiring zeal and relentless effort that made everybody and everything else fall into place.

He had tremendous faith in the role of the mass media in benefiting the people. He severely missed the presence of an authentic voice against authoritarianism during General Ershad's rule and committed himself to creating one. Throughout this period, whenever he would visit me in Paris and later in New York and Bangkok he would express his boundless delight in my plans to return home and work in the media and reiterated his own determination of doing something in this field. Under Mr Ali's guidance and Mahmud Bhai's management, The Daily Star was born on January 14, 1991, immediately after the fall of Ershad's regime.

Other than its forthright editorials, hard-hitting reporting, and modern lay-out, what distinguished the Star from any other newspaper from the start was its professional management. As the MD of Mediaworld, the owning company, Mahmud Bhai introduced some of the best practices of the corporate world into newspaper management. From the very start we got off to a strict and yet creative management style, to which we owe much of our success today. Thus we can say we are reaping the benefit of the seeds sown by AS Mahmud in those initial days.

It was also under Mahmud Bhai's managing directorship that a strict demarcation was drawn in the Star between board of directors, and Star management with its editorial freedom. The board was the supreme body to give the policy directives and oversee the financial and all-round health of the paper. But once the guidance had been clearly given, the management was given a free hand to run the newspaper as the editor saw fit.

Thus we can proudly say that the Star board of directors have never, and we repeat, never, interfered (not even once) with the running of the paper as far as its editorial freedom is concerned. This proud and extremely vital tradition -- the single most important feature of the management -- lies behind whatever modest success this paper has achieved, and it was started from the time of Mahmud Bhai. The role of our founding chair, late Azimur Rahman, in setting this tradition also must be acknowledged.

However his crowning glory came when he set up the first and so far the most successful, creative, and popular private TV channel in Bangladesh -- Ekushey TV. He thought of something that none had done before him, and he brought his dream into reality when nobody dared to venture into this untried area. For opening our doors to private television he can unquestionably be termed as the "Father of Private Television in Bangladesh."

It was his vision, his courage, his energy, and his determination that brought about the beginning of private television, which has today revolutionised consumer choice in TV viewing. Not only had he done something new, but he did it with such professionalism that till today, Ekushey TV remains by far the best example of private TV in the country.

In fact, whatever success others have achieved, they are based on those who were trained and learnt their work in Ekushey TV. It is a pity that others have spent so little in training and practical work, which Ekushey under Mahmud Bhai made a regular practice.

A tribute to him cannot be complete without expressing our unqualified condemnation for the way he was treated following the change of government in 2001. Not only Ekushey was closed through a court order, but his own safety became uncertain due to threats to himself and his family for which he had to go on self-exile in London. He died there, a broken-hearted man, on January 22, 2004.

As one of the founders of The Daily Star and as the "Father of Private Television in Bangladesh," AS Mahmud will be remembered as one of the most significant personalities in the development of free media in Bangladesh. We are proud to be associated with his memory.

Mahfuz Anam is Editor and Publisher of The Daily Star.