It took three decades of sacrifice, unimpeachable integrity and firm determination for Latifur Rahman to build a business empire. But his legacy is that of a torchbearer of independent media.

If you ask anyone here, what do you do, he’d say I’m doing a job here, but I want them to say instead that they are running their own business here, this is what Mr Latifur Rahman, our LRN used to tell us. He believed in igniting aspiration among others; he used to take pride in the achievements of his people. I’ll never forget how proudly he introduced me to his fellow MCCI members as the first female professional reaching the height of being a General Manager in marketing arena of pharma industry, when I was promoted as the General Manager, Marketing of Eskayef in 2007.

I received a short message on my phone just before noon on July 1 but could not notice it properly due to office work.

Humility is the rarity that goes sorely missing in people with power. Among hordes of influential people in our society, only a few stand apart as rarity, a light of hope for the society against show of arrogance. With the passing of Latifur Rahman, a light of rarity went out for good.

Immediately after his country broke free from the shackles of Pakistani rule, a young man in Dhaka landed in a crisis that no one his age would have wanted to find themselves in.

Tributes continued to pour in yesterday for founding chairman and CEO of Transcom Group Latifur Rahman, who breathed his last on Wednesday morning.

He was an editor’s dream of an investor. But he turned out to be so much more. Yes, Matiur Rahman and I run the two papers -- Prothom Alo and The Daily Star respectively -- but it was he who made them happen, with his principles, integrity, courage, steadfastness, strength of character, and unswerving faith in independent media without which, he intuitively knew, that democracy could not flourish.

A business icon of the country, Latifur Rahman, founder chairman and CEO of Transcom Group, has been laid to eternal rest at the city's Banani graveyard beside his daughter Shazneen Tasnim Rahman and grandson Faraaz Ayaaz Hossain.

Immediately after his country broke free in a bloody and ruthless war to snatch away freedom from Pakistan, a young man in Dhaka landed on a crisis no one of his age would have wanted to find himself in. W Rahman Jute Mills, the first of its kind to be owned by a Bengali in erstwhile Pakistan, and, more importantly, one of the two sources of bread and butter that his family had in the turbulent days of 1972, was nationalised along with other privately-owned industries.

Latifur Rahman (Shamim), 75, has passed away in his sleep at 11 am in his paternal home in Cumilla.