This year marks the 207th birth anniversary of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, who was born into a prominent family with ties to the Mughal court in Delhi on 17 October 1817, and passed away on 27 March 1898.

Syed Waliullah’s (1922-1971) debut novel Lal Shalu drew significant attention upon its release but faced mixed reviews, including outright rejection. Since then, it has been translated into multiple languages, adapted for the stage, and made into a film. Today, it is regarded as the first major modern novel by a Bengali Muslim writer.

Fifty years ago, in October 1974, Abul Hashim, a prominent political leader of the then dissolved Bengal Provincial Muslim League (BPML) breathed his last in Bangladesh, leaving behind an important political legacy now long forgotten.

The 1969 Mass Uprising was primarily focused on achieving either provincial autonomy or independence, which ultimately led to the Liberation War in 1971.

As I was completing my undergraduate program in USA, the American Presidential election of 1976 came up.

Kazi Imdadul Huq’s novel Abdullah, written nearly a century ago, is regarded as one of the first modern novels by a Bengali Muslim writer. Initially known for his poetry and children’s literature, Huq transitioned into a notable prose writer, offering profound insights into history, culture, and society. Abdullah was his only novel, published posthumously, and it has since become a milestone in Bengali literature, earning enduring acclaim from readers.

Firdous Azim: There has been an uprising in Bangladesh.

On November 29, 1957, the Bengali-language newspaper Jugantor carried an advertisement placed by the management of Metro Goldwyn Mayer’s (MGM) Metro Film Hall of Kolkata.

In the often-treacherous world of showbiz, there is always “something else” beyond mere skill, charisma, and looks that contributes to stardom.

The poetic tradition in the East, particularly in Greater India, has long been characterised by diverse literary experimentation, significantly influenced by Sanskritic, Arabic, and Persian cosmopolitan traditions.

The inspiration for decolonization, as a philosophical term, writes Achille Mbembe, was the ‘active will to community’ which can be translated as something like ‘to stand up on one’s own and create a heritage’. 

Ravi Shankar methodically plucked the seven top strings on his sitar, drawing twanged melodies out of the four-footlong instrument.

Anwarul Quadir (1887-1948) was a key literary figure whose work significantly influenced the intellectual movement of Bengali Muslims in late colonial Bengal.

If you think about the international reaction to the Bangladesh Liberation War, you most likely would consider the United States government openly siding with Pakistan.

In the sixties of the last century, I earned my primary degree with majors in Philosophy and Indian Studies and became a secondary school teacher.

Cartography in India might have had its roots in this expansionist ambition but went on to achieve much more than this. Rennell’s Map of Hindostan, published by an act of Parliament in 1782, inaugurated the cartographic identity of modern India for the first time on the world stage.

Although Rammohun Roy was notably many things, he was not an unlikely person to write a grammar—or, in fact, two grammars: one in English and one in Bangla, the latter being a free translation of the former.

When writing a confidential report on the Bengali workers of Karnaphuli Paper Mills to the Superintendent of Police, D.I.B Rangamati, Sub-Inspector of Police Md. Nurul Islam noted with disgust and frustration:

A chronicle of race science in Bengal

Kazi Nazrul Islam, according to Kazi Abdul Wadud (1895-1970), perhaps the first formidable critic who took him seriously, “was the first writer among Bengali Muslims of the modern era who was able to conquer the hearts of Hindus and Muslims alike of Bengal.”