Dhaka: The voice behind one of Bangladesh’s most consequential journeys into digital journalism has fallen silent. Toufique Imrose Khalidi, editor-in-chief of bdnews24.com, has died at the age of 59. He was taken to St Bartholomew’s Hospital in London on Thursday night after suffering a brain haemorrhage. Doctors pronounced him dead at 2:23pm local time on Friday. Khalidi had been in London on a private visit, his family said, when he suddenly fell ill. His death came just three weeks before bdnews24.com was due to celebrate its 20th anniversary on Oct 23 — an occasion he had been actively planning.
“We were preparing to celebrate our 20th anniversary on Oct 23. Toufique bhai himself was planning everything. Overall, he was incredibly energised and enthusiastic. But everything ended three weeks before that. This is an irreparable loss for us,” a bdnews24.com spokesperson said. The date for bringing Khalidi’s body back to Bangladesh has not yet been decided. His family will announce the time and place of the funeral prayers and burial once arrangements have been finalised. President Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir expressed deep sorrow over Khalidi’s death, describing him as a pioneer in the development of online and digital journalism in Bangladesh.
“Toufique Imrose Khalidi was a pioneer in the development of online and digital journalism in the country. With his death, the country has lost an experienced, gracious and distinguished media personality. His contribution to journalism and the media will be remembered for a long time,” he said in a condolence message. Recalling his personal memories of Khalidi with deep respect, the president added, “Toufique Imrose Khalidi’s death is extremely painful for me.”
Khalidi was born on Jun 14, 1967. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in English Literature from the Dhaka University in 1987, studying political science and international relations as subsidiary subjects. Khalidi would go on to complete a Master’s in English Literature from the same university. He started in population research in 1987 and worked for Save the Children Fund (UK) before entering journalism.
Khalidi worked at a number of publications over the course of a lengthy journalistic career. He was the assistant editor at the Sunday Express from 1989 to 1991, a diplomatic correspondent at The Daily Star from 1991 to 1993, a senior correspondent at The Financial Express from 1993 to 1995, and then as assistant editor and lead writer at the publication while also covering major events as special correspondent.
From 1996 to 1997, he worked for Paris-based Europe, a quarterly journal published by Journalists in Europe Foundation in Paris. He was the assistant editor and head of the Business and Economy Desk at The Daily Star from 1997 to 1998. From 1999 to 2000, he was the news editor of the English daily’s Weekend Edition. During this time, he was also the joint news editor at the newspaper.
Khalidi joined the BBC World Service in 2000 and worked as a producer and presenter of news and current affairs programmes in addition to producing reports and features on business and economic issues until 2005. He was also the anchor of a monthly debate programme.
In July 2006, he became the editor-in-chief and managing director of bdnews24.com, also serving as the director and stakeholder of its owning company Bangladesh News 24 Hours Ltd. Following the takeover by Khalidi, BDNEWS relaunched as Bangladesh’s first free online newspaper and was rebranded as bdnews24.com.
