Bashundhara Group Managing Director Sayem Sobhan Anvir has stood by a hapless freelancer photographer, who fell into deep financial crisis after losing his camera, the only source of earning.
Freelancer photographer Mohammad Ibrahim Khalil lost his camera on March 21. He could not afford to buy a new one for lack of money. Already burdened with debt, he is living a miserable life with his family.
Finding no way to come out of this unbearable situation, Khalil reportedly planned to commit suicide.
Bashundhara Group Managing Director Sayem Sobhan Anvir came forward to helping him soon after he came to know about the matter. He hurriedly gave Khalil Tk 2 lakh to buy a new camera.
On behalf of the Bashundhara Group managing director, Haider Ali, deputy editor of the daily Kaler Kantho and chief of investigative reporting cell, and Ashikur Rahman Srabon, deputy chief news editor of News24 television, handed over Tk 2 lakh to Khalil on Wednesday.
Receiving the money, Khalil became so emotional that he could not help shedding tears. He expressed gratitude to Bashundhara Group managing director, saying that he (Sayem Sobhan Anvir) has saved his life, reports Daily Sun.
“I had no other alternative but to commit suicide unless the Bashundhara Group managing director stood by me at the time of my hardship. He has given me a new life and has saved my family,” he added.
He also prayed for welfare of the Bashundhara Group managing director and his family members.
Khalil is the son of Abdul Karim Fakir of Andharmanik village under Naria upazila in Shariatpur. He is the eldest of three children of their parents. Abdul Karim Fakir, a village chief, somehow managed to maintain his family with his small income.
Khalil could not receive higher education for financial hardship. After completing HSC, he came to Dhaka in search of livelihood. In 2006, he joined Dew Multimedia as an assistant cameraman at monthly salary of Tk 3,000. He lost the job in 2018. Later, he worked at different other organizations as assistant cameraman on contractual basis.
In February 2022, Khalil bought a camera with loan. After about four months, he went to cover a wedding ceremony in Shanir Akhra and lost his camera amid crowd.
He filed a case with Kadamtali police station in this connection but the camera was not recovered.
“Losing the camera, I became jobless. In January this year, I took a loan of Tk 2 lakh from different sources and also borrowed Tk 80,000 from my relatives. I bought Sony's Alpha 7 III camera with Tk 2.80 lakh. Later, I got a contractual job through Cloud Live Event Management to cover photos of mega recitation contest ‘Quraner Noor’ powered by Bashundhara,” he said.
Khalil said that he lost his camera during the final round shooting of the contest at FDC in the capital on March 21.
He said, “Although I lost the camera due to my carelessness, the Bashundhara Group managing director gave me money to buy a new camera. I’m also now happy that I will be able to pay back the loan.”
Bd-pratidin English/Golam Rosul
