Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury

Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury (1 April 1949) is a Bangladeshi journalist and the editor of The Daily Observer. He served as the media and information affairs advisor to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for almost 5 years.^[1]

Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury
Chowdhury in 2018
Born	(1949-04-01) 1 April 1949 (age 76) Feni, East Bengal, Dominion of Pakistan
Nationality	Bangladeshi
Alma mater	University of Dhaka
Occupation	Journalist
Known for	Journalist and Media Advisor to Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina

Early life and education

Chowdhury was born in Fatehpur of Feni Sadar Upazila in Feni District. ^[2] He completed both his bachelor degree in political science and his masters in public administration at the University of Dhaka.^[3]

Career

Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury serves as the founding editor of The Daily Observer. He had been the last editor of The Bangladesh Observer before it was shut down by its owners following reports of irregularities surrounding staff pay.^[4] He is a former president of Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists. He also served as a member of Bangladesh Film Censor Board, Bangladesh Press Council, and National Education Policy Draft Committee. He is the chairman of the Mohammadi Group^[5] and the founding chairman of DBC News.^[3]

He also served as the media and information affairs advisor to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.^[6] He was appointed the advisor on 11 July 2013.^[7] He has said it is not possible for Bangladesh government to rule out terrorism in the Rohingya community.^[8]

Controversy

Iqbal Sobhan was sued by Awami League members of parliament Enamul Haque and Nizam Uddin Hazari.^[9] The Feni district unit of Awami league alleged he was responsible for the press conference by Azharul Haque Arju that blamed the Awami League for the attack on Khaleda Zia's convoy in Feni.^[10]