Mainul Hosein

Barrister Mainul Hosein was the chairman of the editorial board of the Daily Ittefaq, one of the oldest and previously the largest circulating daily Bengali news publication in Bangladesh. Mainul was the Law, Information and Land advisor to the immediate past interim Government of Bangladesh for one year (January 13, 2007 – January 9, 2008).^[1]

Biography

Barrister Mainul Hosein is a lawyer by profession and former Chairman of Editorial Board of the Bangla Daily Ittefaq and now of the New Nation. He was selected as an Advisor to the military-backed Caretaker Government. He received the portfolios of Law, Justice, and Parliamentary Affairs, Land and Information. That happened after 11 January military take over.

On January 11, 2007, the President of Bangladesh declared a State of Emergency under pressure of an army group led by Moeen and suspended the elections which were scheduled to be held on January 22.

The President had also been serving as the Chief Advisor of the Caretaker Government and on January 11 resigned from that post, nominating Dr. Fakhruddin Ahmed as the Chief Advisor.

However, Mainul Hosein was forced to resign from the interim government one year after taking oath after making baseless, derogatory and partisan remarks against various political leaders of the country including two former prime ministers Sheikh Hasina and Khaleda Zia.

Hosein was elected to Parliament in 1973 from his village Constituency at Bhandaria in the district of Pirojpur (Barisal) as a member of Awami League. Mainul Hosein along with General Osmani resigned from the parliament in May 1975 after Sheikh Mujib abolished democracy in the country and instituted one-party system of government through the Fourth Amendment to the constitution.

After the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on August 15, 1975, Mainul joined the Democratic League, led by Khondaker Moshtaq Ahmad, one of the conspirers of the Mujib assassination. Democratic League proclaimed the Indemnity Ordinance, which granted immunity from prosecution to the assassins of Mujib. Mujib's daughters Sheikh Hasina Wazed and Sheikh Rehana were barred from returning to Bangladesh from abroad. BAKSAL was dissolved during the short tenure of Democratic League which was ousted subsequently by a bloodless coup by pro-Mujib military officers Khaled Mosharraf and Shafat Jamil.

After a long feud involving ownership of The Daily Ittefaq, Mainul decided to leave the company in May 2010. The rest of Manik Mia family remained with the Ittefaq newspaper while Mainul exited taking along the 1 RK Mission Road building and the printing press. According to insiders, Mainul and his brother Anwar Hossain Manju were battling a court case regarding Printer and Publisher titles of the Daily Ittefaq. During the caretaker government, Mainul's wife Saju Hosein took over the Printer and Publisher posts from his exiled brother. However, upon Manju's return the transition was challenged, Mainul fearing loss in court decided to exit the company.^[2]

The long-time dispute between the brothers led to the near demise of the Daily Ittefaq which now, in terms of circulation, lags significantly behind several Bangla newspapers in the country including Prothom Alo, Kaler Kantho, Shamakal and a few new tabloids. However, under new management the newspaper is currently attempting to reverse further loss of readership.

Mainul held several important posts earlier in the print media sector of the country. He was the President of Bangladesh Sangbadpatra Parishad, an association of newspaper owners. Mr. Hosein was elected President, Bangladesh Supreme Court Bar Association for the term 2000–2001.

Mr. Hosein is the eldest son of Tofazzal Hossain (Manik Miah), the founder of the Daily Ittefaq. He obtained his B.A. Hons in Political Science with distinction from Dhaka University in 1961. He left for London to study Law and joined Middle Temple Inn. He was called to the Bar in 1965 and became a Barrister-at-Law.

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