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| Gouranga Nandy |
FAMILY AND EARLY LIFE
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Gouranga Nandy was born on 2 April 1963 in a peasant family of Phultala Upazila under Khulna district, Bangladesh. He is the only son of Haripada Nandy and Shabitri Bala Nandy. His mother died in his childhood. Due to problem within the family, he left home in 1978 for ever when his maternal uncle Krishna Pada Roy and Aunt Aparna Sarkar adopted and brought him to Khulna city as one of their son. He cut relationship with his parents and never went back.
EDUCATION
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Gouranga Nandy passed primary education from a village school and secondary education in 1978 from Damodar MM Secondary School (দামোদর এমএম মাধ্যমিক বিদ্যালয়) in Phultala. He achieved higher secondary education in 1980 from Daulatpur (Day-Night) College (দৌলতপুর (দিবা-নৈশ) কলেজ) in Khulna and got admitted in Majid Memorial City College and later in Sundarban Adarsha Mahabidyalay (সুন্দরবন আদর্শ মহাবিদ্যালয়) consequently but did not complete his undergraduate degree from any of these institution. Due to economic crisis he started private tuition as a profession. Later he took journalism as his profession. Gouranga Nandy again got admitted in Daulatpur (Day-Night) College and passed graduate in 1988. Later he completed his post-graduate degree from Govt. B.L University College (সরকারি ব্রজলাল বিশ্ববিদ্যালয় কলেজ) in 1994. During his academic life, he was involved with leftist student groups.
Besides his academic qualification Gouranga Nandy received a number of training on different issues including International course on Building Resilient Communities organized by International Institute of Rural Reconstruction (IIRR) in Philippines; Journalism in Hostile Situation organized by British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC); Disaster Reporting organized by Management and Resources Development Initiative (MRDI); Bridging Workshop: Reflections and Planning on Policy Advocacy organized in Nepal; Workshop on Social Monitoring Tools Focused on Budget Analysis organized in Thailand; Basic Economics for Effective Reporting on Development Issues organized by Economic Research Group (ERG) and World Bank Institute (WBI) and People Centered Policy Advocacy organized by National Centre for Advocacy Studies (NCAS) in India.
CAREER
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Gouranga Nandy has a diversified experience of working as professional private tutor, development activist and journalist. He joined Dainik Purbanchal (দৈনিক পূর্বাঞ্চল), a local daily newspaper of Khulna in August 1986 as a staff reporter after completing his higher secondary education. After five years of working, he left position of chief reporter of daily Purbanchal and joined in another local daily newspaper Dainik Tathya (দৈনিক তথ্য) as News Editor in April 1992. In this transition period, he worked as part-time Information Officer of Prodipan (প্রদীপন), an NGO of southwest coastal region. He left daily Tathya in March 1993 and changed his profession from journalist to a full time development activist until he left Prodipan in November 1998. From 1994 to 1999, he also wrote a number of articles on Ecofile and Poribeshpatra (পরিবেশপত্র), two major environment and development related quarterly magazine.
Meanwhile he worked for recently closed local daily Pathaker Kagoj (দৈনিক পাঠকের কাগজ) as News Editor (1994-1998) and written a number of articles in Weekly Dhaka Courier (1994-1998). After leaving Prodipan, he came back to journalism as a full time job and joined in national daily Bhorer Kagoj (দৈনিক ভোরের কাগজ) as Staff Correspondent of Khulna in November 1998. Working there for two years, Gouranga Nandy left Bhorer Kagoj in December 2000 and joined as Staff Reporter of Dainik Janakantha (দৈনিক জনকণ্ঠ), another leading Bengali national daily published from Dhaka in January 2001. He promoted to Senior Staff Reporter of this newspaper in 2005. After working for 8 years, Nandy left Janakantha in August 2008. Beside his regular job, he also wrote for Shaptahik 2000 (সাপ্তাহিক ২০০০) (closed on 31 October 2014) as a contributor from 2006-2009. In February 2008, Gouranga Nandy was selected as an honorary Adviser of Uttaran (উত্তরণ), a leading zonal NGO of Bangladesh working in the southwest coastal region. As a part of his job, he has been playing the focal point of Coastal Campaign Group of Campaign for Sustainable Rural Livelihoods (CSRL), an NGO Network of Bangladesh working on agriculture, climate change and trade. Gouranga Nandy joined as a Contributor of BBC Bengali Service in 2006 and still working for this international broadcasting agency. He is also working in daily Kaler Kantho (দৈনিক কালের কণ্ঠ) as Chief of Khulna Office since 2009. He is the Editor of local weekly Bengali newspaper Annya Chokhe.
Gouranga Nandy was born on 2 April 1963 in a peasant family of Phultala Upazila under Khulna district, Bangladesh. He is the only son of Haripada Nandy and Shabitri Bala Nandy. His mother died in his childhood. Due to problem within the family, he left home in 1978 for ever when his maternal uncle Krishna Pada Roy and Aunt Aparna Sarkar adopted and brought him to Khulna city as one of their son. He cut relationship with his parents and never went back.
EDUCATION
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Gouranga Nandy passed primary education from a village school and secondary education in 1978 from Damodar MM Secondary School (দামোদর এমএম মাধ্যমিক বিদ্যালয়) in Phultala. He achieved higher secondary education in 1980 from Daulatpur (Day-Night) College (দৌলতপুর (দিবা-নৈশ) কলেজ) in Khulna and got admitted in Majid Memorial City College and later in Sundarban Adarsha Mahabidyalay (সুন্দরবন আদর্শ মহাবিদ্যালয়) consequently but did not complete his undergraduate degree from any of these institution. Due to economic crisis he started private tuition as a profession. Later he took journalism as his profession. Gouranga Nandy again got admitted in Daulatpur (Day-Night) College and passed graduate in 1988. Later he completed his post-graduate degree from Govt. B.L University College (সরকারি ব্রজলাল বিশ্ববিদ্যালয় কলেজ) in 1994. During his academic life, he was involved with leftist student groups.
Besides his academic qualification Gouranga Nandy received a number of training on different issues including International course on Building Resilient Communities organized by International Institute of Rural Reconstruction (IIRR) in Philippines; Journalism in Hostile Situation organized by British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC); Disaster Reporting organized by Management and Resources Development Initiative (MRDI); Bridging Workshop: Reflections and Planning on Policy Advocacy organized in Nepal; Workshop on Social Monitoring Tools Focused on Budget Analysis organized in Thailand; Basic Economics for Effective Reporting on Development Issues organized by Economic Research Group (ERG) and World Bank Institute (WBI) and People Centered Policy Advocacy organized by National Centre for Advocacy Studies (NCAS) in India.
CAREER
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Gouranga Nandy has a diversified experience of working as professional private tutor, development activist and journalist. He joined Dainik Purbanchal (দৈনিক পূর্বাঞ্চল), a local daily newspaper of Khulna in August 1986 as a staff reporter after completing his higher secondary education. After five years of working, he left position of chief reporter of daily Purbanchal and joined in another local daily newspaper Dainik Tathya (দৈনিক তথ্য) as News Editor in April 1992. In this transition period, he worked as part-time Information Officer of Prodipan (প্রদীপন), an NGO of southwest coastal region. He left daily Tathya in March 1993 and changed his profession from journalist to a full time development activist until he left Prodipan in November 1998. From 1994 to 1999, he also wrote a number of articles on Ecofile and Poribeshpatra (পরিবেশপত্র), two major environment and development related quarterly magazine.
Meanwhile he worked for recently closed local daily Pathaker Kagoj (দৈনিক পাঠকের কাগজ) as News Editor (1994-1998) and written a number of articles in Weekly Dhaka Courier (1994-1998). After leaving Prodipan, he came back to journalism as a full time job and joined in national daily Bhorer Kagoj (দৈনিক ভোরের কাগজ) as Staff Correspondent of Khulna in November 1998. Working there for two years, Gouranga Nandy left Bhorer Kagoj in December 2000 and joined as Staff Reporter of Dainik Janakantha (দৈনিক জনকণ্ঠ), another leading Bengali national daily published from Dhaka in January 2001. He promoted to Senior Staff Reporter of this newspaper in 2005. After working for 8 years, Nandy left Janakantha in August 2008. Beside his regular job, he also wrote for Shaptahik 2000 (সাপ্তাহিক ২০০০) (closed on 31 October 2014) as a contributor from 2006-2009. In February 2008, Gouranga Nandy was selected as an honorary Adviser of Uttaran (উত্তরণ), a leading zonal NGO of Bangladesh working in the southwest coastal region. As a part of his job, he has been playing the focal point of Coastal Campaign Group of Campaign for Sustainable Rural Livelihoods (CSRL), an NGO Network of Bangladesh working on agriculture, climate change and trade. Gouranga Nandy joined as a Contributor of BBC Bengali Service in 2006 and still working for this international broadcasting agency. He is also working in daily Kaler Kantho (দৈনিক কালের কণ্ঠ) as Chief of Khulna Office since 2009. He is the Editor of local weekly Bengali newspaper Annya Chokhe.
OTHER WORKS
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Gouranga Nandy is the convener of Sundarbans Watch Group (SWG) since its inception in 2008. He represented the SWG in various campaigns on different issues including campaign against Integrated Protected Area Co-management (IPAC) Project and Sundarbans Biodiversity Conservation Project (SBCP), campaign on Oil Spillage in the Sundarbans, Thermal Power Plant near Sundarbans, Forest Fire in the Sundarbans and many others. Gouranga Nandy is a member of Khulna Press Club and elected as Executive Member for 2006 and 2016. He is also a member of Khulna Union of Journalists (KUJ) and Khulna Working Journalist Unity (KWJU) and has been contributing as the Convener of later mentioned organization since 2015. He is an Executive Committee Member of Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists (BFUJ) for the term of 2016-17.
Gouranga Nandy is also involved with several social causes. He is playing important role in Ekattorer Ghatak-Dalal Nirmul Committee (একাত্তরের ঘাতক-দালাল নির্মূল কমিটি) and presently contributing as Vice President of Khulna District committee. He is also one of the trustees of 1971: Genocide-Torture Archive and Museum Trust (১৯৭১: গণহত্যা-নির্যাতন আর্কাইভ ও জাদুঘর ট্রাস্ট), a Khulna based museum and archive on Bangladesh Liberation War. Gouranga Nandy is a Life Member of Umesh Chandra Public Library (উমেশচন্দ্র পাবলিক লাইব্রেরি), the oldest library of Khulna and Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy (বাংলাদেশ শিল্পকলা একাডেমি), Khulna.
CONTRIBUTIONS
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As a journalist, Gouranga Nandy has been writing articles and non-fiction books continuously on the Sundarbans mangrove forest, water logging, industrial shrimp farming, livelihood problems of coastal people, water scarcity and different environmental issues. He wrote a number of reports from his direct experiences in devastating cyclone of 1988, cyclone Sidr in 2007 and cyclone Aila in 2009. Social and environmental problems derived from saline water shrimp farming, livelihoods crisis centering artificial water logging in southwest zone and Bangladesh Liberation War (1971) in the greater Khulna region are his topics of interest and he conducted several research on these issues.
AUTHORED ARTICLES: Gouranga Nandy has written hundreds of Articles on Sundarbans mangrove forest and environmental problems of coastal region, some of them are:
- River System of South-west threatened; in Dhaka Courier, edited by Enayetullah Khan, Dhaka: 26 May 1995
- Salinity: Environment and Problems; in Dhaka Courier, edited by Enayetullah Khan, Dhaka: 19 May 1995
- Beel Dakatia: Hope and Anxiety; in Dhaka Courier, edited by Enayetullah Khan, Dhaka: 16 June 1995
- Water Logging: New area affected, in Dhaka Courier, edited by Enayetullah Khan, Dhaka: 13 October 1995
- Are FAP projects new generation projects? in Dhaka Courier, edited by Enayetullah Khan, Dhaka: 8 December 1995
- Coastal life under threat, in Dhaka Courier, edited by Enayetullah Khan, Dhaka: 12 January 1996
- Sundarbans on fire, in Dhaka Courier, edited by Enayetullah Khan, Dhaka: 26 April 1996
- Drought in Khulna region, in Dhaka Courier, edited by Enayetullah Khan, Dhaka: 17 May 1996
- Water Logging in Khulna-Jessore: Its Causes and Effects: Further Embankments and Drainage to Solve Problems are criticized as mistaken approaches; published in Earth Touch, Vol. 4, edited by Philip Gain, Dhaka: March 1998
- Spilled Oil from Tanker slicked all over the Sundarbans (in Bengali: ট্যাঙ্কার ডুবে তেল ছড়িয়ে পড়ছে গোট সুন্দরবনে) with MA Motaleb, published in daily Kaler Kantho, 10 December 2014
- Sundarbans floating on Oil (in Bengali: তেলে ভাসছে সুন্দরবন) with MA Motaleb, published in daily Kaler Kantho, 11 December 2014
- Destruction of Beauty (in Bengali: সুন্দরের সর্বনাশ) with Biplob Rahman, published in daily Kaler Kantho, 13 December 2014
- Oil Tanker Sank in the Sundarbans River: Fauna of Riverbank is Dying (in Bengali: সুন্দরবনের নদীতে তেলের জাহাজডুবি: নদীতীরের উদ্ভিদকুল মরতে শুরু করেছে), published in daily Kaler Kantho, 15 December 2014
- Southwestern Soil-Water Seriously Affected by Salinity (in Bengali: দক্ষিণ-পশ্চিমের মাটি-পানি ধুঁকছে নোনায়), published in daily Kaler Kantho, 5 June 2015
- The Sundarbans is in Risk for Salinity (in Bengali: সুন্দরবন কোণঠাসা নোনার বিষে), published in Daily Kaler Kantho, 26 July 2015
- Poaching and Prey Crisis is the Cause for Declining Tigers (in Bengali: সুন্দরবনে বাঘ কমার নেপথ্যে খাদ্য সংকট ও চোরাই শিকার), published in daily Kaler Kantho, 28 July 2015
- Tiger Population is under 100 Only! (in Bengali: সুন্দরবনে ১০০ বাঘও নেই!), published in daily Kaler Kantho, 31 July 2015
- Batagur is critically endangered in the Sundarbans (in Bengali: সুন্দরবনে মহাবিপন্ন প্রাণী : বাটাগুর কাছিম), published in daily Kaler Kantho, 23 August 2015
- Masked Finfoot is near Extinct in the Sundarbans (in Bengali: সুন্দরবনে বিলুপ্তপ্রায় পাখি : লাজুক সুন্দরী হাঁস), published in daily Kaler Kantho, 30 September 2015
- Tourists in Katka is Danger for Tigers (in Bengali: বাঘের জন্য বিপদ কটকার পর্যটক), published in daily Kaler Kantho, 17 October 2015
- Prey Crisis in the Sundarbans for Salinity: Tigers in Risk (in Bengali: নোনায় সুন্দরবনে খাবার সংকট : ঝুঁকিতে বাঘ), published in daily Kaler Kantho, 30 January 2016
- Sundarbans: Mouals entered in the Treasure of Honey (in Bengali: সুন্দরবন: মধুর ভান্ডারে মৌয়াল), published in daily Kaler Kantho, 4 April 2016
- Continuous fire in the Sundarbans: Sabotage to occupy land and fishing area (in Bengali: সুন্দরবনে বারবার আগুন : ভূমি আর মাছের খনি কবজা করতে নাশকতা), with Bishnuprasad Chakrabarty, published in daily Kaler Kantho, 20 April 2016
AUTHORED BOOKS:
- Destroyed Environment and Tree Plantation (in Bengali: বিপর্যস্ত পরিবেশ ও বৃক্ষ রোপণ) published by Pradipan in 1993
- Shrimp Farming in Tears of Thousands (in Bengali: চোখের জলে চিংড়ি চাষ): Environmental Impact Assessment of Shrimp Culture in Dacope Upazila with Rafiquzzaman, Abdul Halim Khan and ABM Kamrul Hasan published by Centre for Sustainable Development (CFSD) in May 1992
- Struggle for Human Rights: Perspective Coastal Floodplain of Bangladesh (in Bengali: মানবাধিকার আন্দোলন : প্রেক্ষিত উপকূলীয় প্লাবনভূমি অঞ্চল) with Ashek-E-Elahi, published by Shushilan in 2005
- Shrimp and Peoples Economics: Who Gains, Who Losses (in Bengali: চিংড়ি ও জন-অর্থনীতি : কার লাভ, কার ক্ষতি) with Shamsher Ali and Tauhid Ibne Farid, published by Actionaid Bangladesh in 2007
- Transferring Lands to the Landless: Experience of Integrated GO-NGO Initiatives (in Bengali: ভূমিহীনদের কাছে ভূমি হস্তান্তর : সরকারি-বেসরকারি সমন্বিত উদ্যোগের অভিজ্ঞতা) with Shahidul Islam published by Uttaran in 2009
- Saint Martin's Island: Under Hands of Traders (in Bengali: ব্যবসায়ীদের থাবায় প্রবাল দ্বীপ সেন্ট মার্টিনস্) with Hasan Mehedi published by Uttaran and CSRL in 2009
- Climate Change: Voice of the Victims from Coastal Bangladesh (in Bengali: জলবায়ু পরিবর্তন : উপকূলীয় জনগণের কণ্ঠস্বর) with Hasan Mehedi, published by Uttaran, CLEAN and CSRL in 2009
- Peoples Livelihoods of Southwest Coastal Region, Climate Change And… (in Bengali: দক্ষিণ-পশ্চিম উপকূলীয় জন-জীবন, জলবায়ু পরিবর্তন এবং…) published by CLEAN (Coastal Livelihood and Environmental Action Network) in 2010
- In Development Trap (জালের ফাঁদে) published by Initiative for Right View (IRV), International Food Security Network (IFSN) and Actionaid Bangladesh in 2011
- Water Scarcity in Coast (in Bengali: উপকূলে নিরাপদ পানির আকাল) with Shamim Arfeen, published by AOSED (An Organization for Socio-Economic Development) in 2013
- Genocide in Badamtala, Khulna (in Bengali: বাদামতলা গণহত্যা) published by 1971: Genocide-Torture Archive and Museum Trust in 2015
- Genocide in Deara, Khulna (in Bengali: দেয়াড়া গণহত্যা) published by 1971: Genocide-Torture Archive and Museum Trust in 2015
- History of Independent War in Greater Khulna District (in Bengali: বৃহত্তর খুলনা জেলার মুক্তিযুদ্ধের ইতিহাস) published by Gatidhara Publications in February 2016
STUDY REPORTS:
- The State of the Coastal Environment: A peoples report based on their knowledge and opinion with Dr. Atiur Rahman, Farooqe Chowdhury, and Aminur Rahman, edited by Mahfuz Ullah, published by Unnayan Shamannay in 1994
EDITED BOOKS:
- Journalist Manik Saha Commemorative Volume (in Bengali: সাংবাদিক মানিক সাহা স্মারক গ্রন্থ), published by Ratan Sen Public Library in 2006
- Abu Mohammad Ferdaus Commemorative Volume (in Bengali: আবু মহম্মদ ফেরদাউস স্মারকগ্রন্থ) with Dr. Sheikh Gaus Mia, Advocate Abdul Halim, Mujibor Rahman, Anowarul Quadir, Hafizur Rahman and Mohiuddin Ahmed Mahin, published by Abu Mohammad Ferdaus Memorial Association in 2009
- Marvelous Mangroves Curriculum in Bangladesh (in Bengali: বাংলাদেশের অপরূপ বাদাবন) with Dilip Kumar Datta and Sazzadur Rahim Pantha, published by CLEAN (Coastal Livelihood and Environmental Action Network) in 2014
UNPUBLISHED WORKS
- Poisonous Burning (in Bengali: বিষের জ্বালা)
AWARDS
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Gouranga Nandy received two awards for his valuable contributions in protecting coastal environment and livelihoods through journalism and writings:
- Abu Mohammad Ferdaus Award (2009) given by Abu Mohammad Ferdaus Memorial Association for contributing in environmental protection and peoples movement in the Southwest coastal region of Bangladesh
- Divisional Award for Reporting on Human Rights (2004) given by Democracywatch, Bangladesh
CONTRIBUTOR
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Hasan Mehedi
