Munier Chowdhury lives in his achievements
Friday, 9 March 2012
Shamsher Chowdhury
Munier Chowdhury was a multifaceted genius. He was a teacher par excellence, a littérateur of exceptional calibre, a unique speaker. He wrote some classic dramas. Munier Chowdhuy's immortal drama 'Kabar' will last as long as Bangladesh lasts, and beyond. His innovation of the keyboard for a Bangla typewriter much before our independence laid the foundation of the keyboard of modern-day typewriter. His knowledge and understanding of both Bangla and English literature and language made him a high-ranking scholar. Munier Chowdhury often used to read out manuscript of a drama just written to his brothers and sisters gathered round him and even acted out scenes. This was the time he introduced his sister Ferdousi Majumder to the world of drama and stage acting. Consider the fact that it was early sixties when women on the stage were a rarity.
Munier Chowdhury's talent as a teacher was unparalleled. He treated his students as his own siblings. His doors were always open for those needed his advice outside office. He was responsive to both the weak and the strong. To him the entire student community was an integral part of his extended family. He often went out of his way to help a student who was unable to pay fees or buy essential books.
Munier Chowdhury's capabilities as a speaker within the classroom and in different forums became a legend during his lifetime. Here I would like to recall an incident that took place in late 1959 or 1960 which will give us an insight into the depth and measure of his eloquence as a speaker. He was speaking at an august gathering at the Curzon Hall where the then Secretary General of the Pakistan Writers' Guild and the Secretary of Education were present. At one stage there was sudden power outage; Munier Chowdhury continued with his speech in total darkness for nearly thirty minutes or so when power was restored. Surprisingly, hardly any had left the auditorium with most of them still in their seats; such was the power and depth of his eloquence. Shortly after the incident, he became the Secretary General of the Writers' Guild in East Pakistan.
Many today may recall the background in which he obtained his Master's in Bangla and wrote the immortal drama "Kabar". He was then serving a jail term as a political prisoner. He used to be escorted by the police to the examination hall at the Curzon Hall on specified days and soon as the examinations were over, was sent back to the jail in a prison van. Even the four walls of a prison could not deter him from his passion in the pursuit of knowledge and studies, He wrote the immortal drama "Kabar' while he was still in jail, a rare feat which we may never again take place in this country.
Munier Chowdhury was one the pioneers in his relentless crusade against religious fundamentalism, beginning the 1950s. It was perhaps the cause of his brutal death at the hands of members of the infamous Al-Badr and Al-Shams of the Jamaat-e-Islami, the collaborators of the Pakistani occupation forces. Perhaps they knew too well the potentials of Munier Chowdhury as a crusader against them and their ideals.
Munier Chowdhury was a rare individual. He was a champion of free thought. He hated all kinds of violence. He was a patriot of the highest order.
It is sad that aside from Munier Chowdhury, the nation and the state do not properly honour the memory of the nearly two hundred of the intellectuals who were victims of an intellectual genocide only 48 hours before we won our independence on December 16, 1971. As days pass by, their memory is confined to a ritual observed each year on the 14th of December as Intellectual Martyrs' Day and that is the end of it all. To this day, no visible and significant move has been made in bringing to book the trial of the killers except for anniversary supplements in the print media and talk-shows in the electronic media.
This writer is one of the younger brothers of Shaheed Munier Chowdhury. The criminals kidnapped my brother right in my presence. As such the wound has not healed in 40 long years, yet I must admit, I no longer have a howling pain within my chest. What really pains me, instead, is the fact that everything that goes around these days appear to be so artificial and heavily weighed down by cheap politics.
These days I am in a resigned state of mind and have left matters in the care of that Supreme Judge, our creator.
chowdhuryshamsher@yahoo.com
Munier Chowdhury was a multifaceted genius. He was a teacher par excellence, a littérateur of exceptional calibre, a unique speaker. He wrote some classic dramas. Munier Chowdhuy's immortal drama 'Kabar' will last as long as Bangladesh lasts, and beyond. His innovation of the keyboard for a Bangla typewriter much before our independence laid the foundation of the keyboard of modern-day typewriter. His knowledge and understanding of both Bangla and English literature and language made him a high-ranking scholar. Munier Chowdhury often used to read out manuscript of a drama just written to his brothers and sisters gathered round him and even acted out scenes. This was the time he introduced his sister Ferdousi Majumder to the world of drama and stage acting. Consider the fact that it was early sixties when women on the stage were a rarity.
Munier Chowdhury's talent as a teacher was unparalleled. He treated his students as his own siblings. His doors were always open for those needed his advice outside office. He was responsive to both the weak and the strong. To him the entire student community was an integral part of his extended family. He often went out of his way to help a student who was unable to pay fees or buy essential books.
Munier Chowdhury's capabilities as a speaker within the classroom and in different forums became a legend during his lifetime. Here I would like to recall an incident that took place in late 1959 or 1960 which will give us an insight into the depth and measure of his eloquence as a speaker. He was speaking at an august gathering at the Curzon Hall where the then Secretary General of the Pakistan Writers' Guild and the Secretary of Education were present. At one stage there was sudden power outage; Munier Chowdhury continued with his speech in total darkness for nearly thirty minutes or so when power was restored. Surprisingly, hardly any had left the auditorium with most of them still in their seats; such was the power and depth of his eloquence. Shortly after the incident, he became the Secretary General of the Writers' Guild in East Pakistan.
Many today may recall the background in which he obtained his Master's in Bangla and wrote the immortal drama "Kabar". He was then serving a jail term as a political prisoner. He used to be escorted by the police to the examination hall at the Curzon Hall on specified days and soon as the examinations were over, was sent back to the jail in a prison van. Even the four walls of a prison could not deter him from his passion in the pursuit of knowledge and studies, He wrote the immortal drama "Kabar' while he was still in jail, a rare feat which we may never again take place in this country.
Munier Chowdhury was one the pioneers in his relentless crusade against religious fundamentalism, beginning the 1950s. It was perhaps the cause of his brutal death at the hands of members of the infamous Al-Badr and Al-Shams of the Jamaat-e-Islami, the collaborators of the Pakistani occupation forces. Perhaps they knew too well the potentials of Munier Chowdhury as a crusader against them and their ideals.
Munier Chowdhury was a rare individual. He was a champion of free thought. He hated all kinds of violence. He was a patriot of the highest order.
It is sad that aside from Munier Chowdhury, the nation and the state do not properly honour the memory of the nearly two hundred of the intellectuals who were victims of an intellectual genocide only 48 hours before we won our independence on December 16, 1971. As days pass by, their memory is confined to a ritual observed each year on the 14th of December as Intellectual Martyrs' Day and that is the end of it all. To this day, no visible and significant move has been made in bringing to book the trial of the killers except for anniversary supplements in the print media and talk-shows in the electronic media.
This writer is one of the younger brothers of Shaheed Munier Chowdhury. The criminals kidnapped my brother right in my presence. As such the wound has not healed in 40 long years, yet I must admit, I no longer have a howling pain within my chest. What really pains me, instead, is the fact that everything that goes around these days appear to be so artificial and heavily weighed down by cheap politics.
These days I am in a resigned state of mind and have left matters in the care of that Supreme Judge, our creator.
chowdhuryshamsher@yahoo.com