IPDC Ogroj: Prof. Shamsuzzaman Khan reminisces on a life of academia and witnessing history
Prof. Shamsuzzaman Khan was the distinguished guest on the fifteenth episode of IPDC Ogroj. He spoke about his upbringing and a colourful childhood, shaped by the ideologies and great personalities of the time. His stellar career in academia, and his myriad intertwinings with the life of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was a telling feature of the talk as well. The session was moderated by venerated banker Anis A. Khan.
Prof. Shamsuzzaman Khan is the current president of Bangla Academy. He is a celebrated folklorist, researcher, writer and educationalist, who has also served as director general of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy and Bangladesh National Museum. He had served as director general of Bangla Academy since 2009 and has been leading the organisation from his current post since June, 2020.
Born on December 29, 1940 in Manikganj, this renowned academician completed his higher studies from the University of Dhaka in the 1960s, and then began his career as a teacher. He is considered the foremost expert in the field of folklore in Bangladesh, notably editing a book series on the folk culture of 64 districts in 64 volumes, as well as editing a collection of folklore in 114 volumes. He is the "Bangabandhu Chair" Professor at Islamic University, Bangladesh, and his contributions to Bangla literature go far beyond academic and research publications. He is a recipient of the Bangla Academy Literary Award, the Ekushey Padak, and the Independence Day Award among many others.
He began with talk of his early childhood, and the loss of his father at a very early age, and the distinguished history of his family going back to his great grandfather came up.
"My father worked as a translator at the government house of Kolkata, which was a bit of a tradition in our family. My great grandfather was Elhadad Khan, and his brother Adalat Khan was the first Bengali Muslim to serve as Munshi of Fort William College, Kolkata. He was even acquainted with Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, and because of his proficiency with multiple languages, he had the opportunity to translate Vidyasagar's Betal Panchabinsati, which is a point of great pride and joy for me."
Speaking of his upbringing, he recollects that he grew up primarily under the watchful eyes of his mother and maternal grandmother.
"Because of the considerable wealth of my grandmother, all of our needs were met during my childhood. When I was a student in the University of Dhaka, while my peers received allowances of around 80 or 90 taka, I would get sent 200 taka. I would divert most of those funds towards buying books, and consequently, even if I don't own much, my house is always filled with books. I am prone to thinking that that is also a result of familial traditions, coming all the way from Adalat Khan or Elhadad Khan."
He talked fondly of teachers in his primary and high school days. He remembered his Bangla teacher in primary school who was an avid reader of Jibanananda Das – a contemporary poet at the time – as well as a teacher in high school who was inspired by the leftist ideologies of the time, who pressed upon his students the need to read newspapers. Prof. Dr. Shamsuzzaman Khan attributed his inclination towards literature, culture, leftism, nationalism, and modern scientific thinking to these early influences in childhood.
He remembered the tumultuous days of the Language Movement of 1952, and informed the viewers that one of the fallen students, Rafiq Uddin Ahmed, was from a village adjacent to his. This made a tremendous mark on a young Shamsuzzaman Khan, who then participated in processions in the local area for the cause of Bangla as the state language. He believes that these incidents led to him growing up with a sense of political and cultural spirit within him.
He recounted the days when he was part of Kanchi Kanchar Ashor, which was the Daily Ittefaq's children's page, and how he had the chance to travel around rural Bangladesh attending different events. He spoke of an interesting memory from one such event.
"In 1962, Kanchi Kanchar Ashor organised an "Ananda Mela" at Dhaka Press Club. One day, a young popular leader of the time, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was invited to the mela. He was walking around observing stalls, while an army of young volunteers like us were assigned security duty. At one point, they noticed a crazy looking man wrapped in a blanket following Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. They suspected this man, surrounded him, and charged him. Eventually, when they made him remove the blanket, they found a map on him that showed he had recorded exactly the route that Sheikh Mujibur Rahman had taken to come to the mela. Everyone was really angry at this person and wanted to hand him over to the police, but Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman said, with his usual mannerism, 'Chandu, I came here to enjoy the mela with some kids, do you have to follow me around spying on me here as well? Leave the place, you're free for now.'"
The discussion moved on to his teaching career, which began at Haraganga College. He subsequently taught at Jagannath College, and then Bangladesh Agricultural University (then East Pakistan Agricultural University) where he enjoyed an intellectually superior environment.
The topic of Bangabandhu came up once more when Prof. Shamsuzzaman Khan spoke about the time Bangabandhu declined the opportunity to become the chief guest of the first literature conference of independent Bangladesh, because he wanted to be flanked by poet Jasimuddin, artist Jainul Abedin, and scientist Prof. Abdul Matin Chowdhury. He reiterated Bangabandhu's support for the folk arts by reminding the viewers that the illustration to the Constitution was also done inspired by Nakshi Kantha, a folk art form.
Speaking of his career in Bangla Academy, he remembered his fascination with the organisation ever since he was a student. He always believed that Bangla Academy should be a research oriented institution and to put research on a strong footing has been his main focus throughout his time there. He worked on publishing Bangla dictionaries, including one for children, which hadn't been done before -- an effort that was praised by Satyajit Ray from across the border.
Reflecting on his career at Bangla Academy, he remarked that he never saw it like any other job, the mindset was that he was doing it for Bangla Academy, for Bangla literature. The talk went on with a discussion of Prof. Shamsuzzaman's published works. The veteran editor reminisced about the chain of events that led to him contributing to editing the manuscripts left behind Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
The talk took an interesting turn with discussion of Prof. Shamsuzzaman's hobbies, prominent among which was cricket. He reminisced about watching the famous Indian and Pakistani cricketers of yore as a youngster in Dhaka. He mentioned his love for football, and music on the radio waves, but his main hobby and love has always been research and pursuit of knowledge.
In the end, Prof. Shamsuzzaman Khan left some valuable advice for the youngsters of today, "Our country has now changed, we are a developing country. If the youth love their country and work with honesty, diligence, skill, perseverance, with idealism in their hearts, then this country will soon turn into a developed country. The youth are extremely important if we are to become a middle income country by 2032. My hope is that they will be able to connect with the rest of the world in innovative and creative ways, that will bring multidimensional assistance, knowledge, and illumination to Bangladesh."
He also stressed on working on inequality in our country, and the fact that tolerance of opposing views is vital if the country is to move forward in the future.
IPDC Finance Ltd presents Ogroj takes place every first and third Thursday of the month from 8pm-9pm. Guests on previous episodes include ex-Finance Secretary Matiul Islam, CPD Founder-Chairperson Prof Rehman Sobhan, Adcomm Limited Chairperson Geeteara Safiya Chowdhury, ex-Finance Minister AMA Muhith, ex-Bangladesh Bank Governor Dr Farashuddin Ahmed, ACI Limited Chairperson M Anis Ud Dowla, novelist Selina Hossain, ex-Finance Minister M Syeduzzaman, MediaWorld Limited Chairperson Rokia Afzal Rahman, composer Shujeyo Shyam, dramatist Ramendu Majumdar, former cricketer Roqibul Hasan and economist Dr. Atiur Rahman.
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