Matiur Rahman is a distinguished Bangladeshi journalist, editor, cultural activist, and former political organizer whose career spans more than five decades. Born on 2 January 1946 in Dhaka to Fazlur Rahman and Lutfunnessa Begum, he grew up in a family environment influenced by leftist politics. He completed his secondary education at Nawabpur Government High School in 1961, studied at Dhaka College, and earned a master’s degree in Statistics from the University of Dhaka in 1967. During his student years, he was deeply involved in sports, particularly cricket, serving for two years as captain of the prominent Victoria cricket team. In late 1961, he joined the underground communist movement and became active in the Bangladesh Students’ Union, later serving in its central leadership and as General Secretary of the Dhaka University Sangskriti Sangsad.
Rahman participated directly in the historic 1962 student movement and remained closely involved in political and cultural activism through the 1969 mass uprising. Alongside organizing demonstrations, producing leaflets and posters, and maintaining underground political communication, he became increasingly engaged with poetry, music, theatre, and progressive cultural movements. He helped organize Ekushey February commemorations, edited publications, arranged seminars and cultural programs, and worked closely with many of Bangladesh’s leading writers, artists, musicians, and intellectuals. He was also involved in successful stage productions of Rabindranath Tagore’s plays, including *Raktakarabi* and *Tasher Desh*.
His professional journalism career began in 1970 as Acting Editor of the weekly *Ekota*, which he edited for two decades. He later edited the Bangladesh edition of *World Marxist Review*, titled *Muktir Diganta*, and served as Editor of *Bhorer Kagoj* from 1992 to 1998. In November 1998, he launched *Prothom Alo*, helping establish it as an independent, non-partisan, financially sustainable and digitally forward-looking news organization. Under his leadership, the wider Prothom Alo platform expanded into online journalism, magazines, publishing, radio, and other innovative media initiatives.
