Shillong, Aug 8: Guwahati woke to deep sorrow this morning with the passing of former journalist, musician and social worker Rabiul Islam at Apollo Hospital, Guwahati at 4:00 a.m. He was 68.
He had been battling severe medical complications including Type 2 respiratory failure due to bi-focal pneumonia, respiratory arrest and acute coronary syndrome. Despite the best treatment, he could not be saved. His funeral prayers and service was held this evening at Athgaon Kabarastan, Guwahati.
Raibul studied at St. Edmunds School in Shillong, a place he often recalled with fondness. For more than two decades he was a familiar voice in Northeast journalism. He worked with The Shillong Times and The Meghalaya Guardian till 1995, known among colleagues for his patience, his eye for human stories, and for staying back to listen long after the interview was over. In 1995 he left the newsroom, saying he wanted to work on the stories that never made it to print. He found them in people battling addiction.
Music was the other thread that ran through his life. A gifted rock singer, Rabiul could move a room with his renditions of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, The Beatles and Simon and Garfunkel. For friends and fellow Seppans, his guitar was as much a part of his outreach as his words. He sang to comfort, to connect, and to remind people that hope could return.
That same compassion drew him to social service. He helped run the Shillong Centre of Kripa Foundation and in 2006 built its Guwahati centre from scratch. In 2018, drawing on decades of experience, he founded CSAPC, Centre for Substance Abuse Prevention and Care in Gauripur, Goalpara. As Managing Trustee he created a model of community-based care that brought thousands back from the edge across Assam and the Northeast. In 2020 he wrote “Substance Abuse and Recovery: A Handbook”, which has since become a reference in rehabilitation centres across the region.
Raibul rarely spoke of his own work. But his life spoke for him, in newsrooms, on stages, and in the quiet rooms where people were given a second chance.
The Northeast has lost a journalist who listened, a musician who healed, and a man who believed everyone deserved another verse. May his soul rest in peace.
