Tofazzal Hossain, popularly known as Manik Miah, ( – 1 June 1969) was a Bengali journalist and politician. He served as the founding editor of The Daily Ittefaq. He wrote the editorial Rajnoitik Moncho (The Political Stage). Most of his journalists were considered leftist as Miah followed the pattern of Awami League. According to journalist and editor of Shongbad Bozlur Rahman, Awami activists followed his editorial more than any actual decision of a meeting. He was a close associate of the founder of Bangladesh, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Miah wrote his political columns in Bengali. He was equally prolific in his English renderings. Miah, who was popularly known for his powerful political column in The Daily Ittefaq (founded by Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani and Yar Mohammad Khan) under the pen-name 'Musafir' dedicated his entire life for the cause of emancipation of the people in the then East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) and establishing the democracy. Yar Mohammad Khan invited Miah who was working at that time as a journalist at Calcutta and made him the editor of The Daily Ittefaq. Early life Hossain was born in Bhandaria Thana of Pirojpur District, East Bengal, British India in 1911. He attended Pirojpur High School upon passing his entrance examination and earned his B. A. degree from Barisal Brojomohun College. Career Hossain started working under the sub-divisional officer of Pirojpur as an assistant. Subsequently, he became Barisal's district public relation officer. He resigned from government job and took up journalism as a profession on the advice of Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy. He moved to Kolkata in 1943 and started working in the office of the Bengal Muslim League as a secretary. He joined the Daily Ittehad as secretary to the board of directors in Kolkata founded by Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy. Hossain moved to Dhaka in 1948 and joined the weekly Ittefaq published from Dhaka. In 1951, he became the editor of the weekly ittefaq replacing Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani. In 1952, he visited China to attend the Asia and Pacific Rim Peace Conference along with Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Ataur Rahman Khan, Dr. Syed Yusuf Hasan, and Khandakar Mohammed Illias. Hossain converted the weekly Ittefaq into a daily in 1953. In 1959, he was detained for one year under martial law of President Ayub Khan. He was detained again in 1962. Hossain served as the elected president of the Pakistan branch of International Press Institute in