Shahidul Zahir

Shahidul Zahir
শহীদুল জহির
Zahir
Pronunciation	Menu 0:00
Born	Mohammad Shaheedul Haque (1953-09-11)11 September 1953 Dhaka, East Bengal, Dominion of Pakistan
Died	23 March 2008(2008-03-23) (aged 54) Dhaka, Bangladesh
Burial place	Sahid Buddhijibi Kabarasthan 23°47′39″N 90°20′42″E / 23.79425°N 90.34494°E / 23.79425; 90.34494
Nationality	Bangladeshi
Other names	Shahidul Haque
Citizenship	Pakistani (1953–1971) Bangladeshi (1971–2008)
Education	MA in Political science
Alma mater	University of Dhaka American University University of Birmingham
Occupation	Novelist writer civil servant
Years active	1985-2008
Known for	Magic realism in Bengali literature
Style	Magic realism
Awards	See below

Shahidul Zahir (Bengali: শহীদুল জহির; born as Mohammad Shaheedul Haque, 11 September 1953 – 23 March 2008) was a Bangladeshi novelist, short story writer and government bureaucrat. He is known for his unique practice of magical realism in modern Bengali literature. His novels and short stories are highly acclaimed for their originality of language and narrative technique. He contributed to Bengali fiction a distinct style, known as the "Shahidul Zahiriya".

He has published four novels and three story collections. Abu Ibrahimer Mirtu (Abu Ibrahim's Death, 2009) is one of his notable novels, which won the Prothom Alo Book of the Year 1415 award in 2010. Also, the novels Jibon O Rajnaitik Bastobota (Life and Political Reality, 1988), Se Ratey Purnima Chilo (That Night was the full Moon, 1995) and Mukher Dike Dekhi (Looking to the Face, 2006) is considered to his major contributions to Bengali literature. He has added a new dimension to Bengali short stories. His notable collections of stories are (Crossing, 1985), (Fig-Eating People and Other Stories 1999), and Dolu Nadir Hawa O Annanya Galpo (The Wind of the Dolu River and Other Stories, 2004). His most notable stories are "Valobasha" ("Love" 1974), "Parapar" (Crossing, 1985), "Agargaon Colonyte Nayantara Phool Keno Nei" ("Why there are no Nayantara in Agargaon Colony" 1991), "Kathure O Dardakak" ("Woodpecker and Raven", 1992), "Kanta" ("Thorn", 1995), "Choturtha Matra" ("The Fourth Dimension", 1996), "Kothaye Pab Tare" (1999), "Dolu Nadir Hawa" ("The Wind of the Dolu River", 2003).

Zahir received the Alaol Literary Award and the Kagoz Literary Award in 2004 for his contribution to literature during his lifetime. The subject of his literary pursuits has been widely discussed. Many films, television and plays have been made from his stories and novels.

Life and career[]

Mohammad Shaheedul Haque was born on 11 September 1953 at 36 Bhuter Goli (Bhojo Hari Shaha Street) of Narinda in the old part of Dhaka city. His father A.K Nural Haque was a govt. officer and his mother Jahanara Begum a housewife. His paternal home was in the village Hashil of Raigonj Upazilla of Sirajgonj district. His grandfather Jahiruddin (it seems Shaheed took the name Jahir from his grandfather's name) was a teacher of the local Normal School (during the British Period) and his grandmother was Jinnatun Nesa. They both had died long before when his father was a child. His maternal grandparents were Azimuddin Ahmad and Hamida Begum of Amlapara, Sirajgonj Town, where he used to visit frequently on the occasion of summer holidays or Eids during his childhood along with his family members. These places, together with Fulbaria an Satkania, where he grew up, left a deep impression in his mind and in the later years featured in many of his short stories and novels. Fictionist Shaheedul Jahir started his school at Silverdale KG School at the then 36 Rankin Street, Dhaka. Later he went to schools of Dhaka, Fulbaria, Mymensingh and Satkania Upazila, Chittagong. From Satkania Model High School he passed his SSC Examination. Later he went to the Dhaka College for his pre-university course (HSC). He studied Political Science at the Dhaka University for his bachelor's and master's degrees. He also went to the American University in Washington DC and Birmingham University. He joined the Bangladesh Civil Service in 1981 as an Assistant Secretary. He was serving as Secretary-in-charge of the Ministry for Chittagong Hill Tracts Affairs until his death in 2008.

Literary works and style[]

Shaheedul Jahir distinguished himself with his surrealist approach to fiction.^[1] He wrote both short stories and novels. He started to write in the late-1970s. His first published story "Bhalobasah" (tr. "Love"), clearly reflected the influence of the Bengali novelist Syed Waliullah. His first book of short stories, published in 1985, Parapar, bore his tendency to portray the human character in an intricate language in the perspective of a thin storyline. He has been said to be a magic-realist in line with Latin American writers^[2][3] and Zahir has been termed the new Marquez of Bangladesh.^[4] However, he admitted the influence of two contemporary novelist, namely Syed Shamsul Haque and Akhtaruzzaman Elias, in addition to Syed Waliullah.^[5] Thematically, the storylines of a number of stories bear the influence of Marxist paradigm. Also, in many novels and stories, he has chosen the perspective of 1971, the year of the liberation war of Bangladesh. He also translated a few stories from English.

Sometimes he wrote poetry but never published any. Also, he translated Bengali poems into English when he had leisure.^[6] Two lines from his flings at poetry is quoted below:^[6]

"... Yet we congregate once again
And a bud blooms into a flower through our time
A silvery Rupchanda floats in salty water..."
(Translated by Faizul Latif Chowdhury)

Personal life[]

Shaheedul Jahir was a confirmed bachelor and was often questioned on this. In an interview with Kamruzzaman Jahangir, the editor of the literary magazine Katha, he told he was unable to explain this phenomenon: 'I can tell nothing about this. This has just happened.'^[4] He was less talkative and introverted. It was hard to befriend him but he was very friendly. He left behind a family which consisted of 4 brothers and 4 sisters. His father died in 1990 and his mother lives with his younger brothers and sisters at his paternal home at Noyatola, Boro Moghbazar, Dhaka, where he used to reside before moving to govt. quarter after joining the Civil Service. He spoke little and appeared to be introvert. It was difficult to make friends with him although he was known to be a very amiable person.

Death[]

He died from acute myocardial infarction (massive heart attack) on 23 March 2008 at the LabAid Cardiac Hospital in Dhaka.^[7] His premature death brought an end to a literary personality who was fully competent and capable and was posied to enrich Bengali literature with his unique prose style. His death was mourned by the president and prime minister of the country, in addition to the literary circle. He was buried at the Martyred Intellectuals Graveyard at Mirpur, Dhaka.^[8] He left a huge number of literary fans who were impressed by his unique literary approach.

Bibliography[]

Zahir only published six books during his lifetime. There are some published stories and novels that remain to be published in book form, in addition to some unpublished works. His last published story is titled "The Miracle of Life" which remains to be anthologised. One novel published in a magazine titled Abu Ibrahim-er Mrityu (tr. Death of Abu Ibrahim), which was published in the magazine Nipun earlier, has already been published as a book by Mowla Brothers in February 2009 Ekushey Book Fair.

Novels[]

• Jibon O Rajnaitik Bastobota (1988)
• Se Ratey Purnima Chilo (1995)
• Mukher Dike Dekhi (2006)
• Abu Ibrahimer Mirtu (2009)

Stories[]

• (1985)
• (1999)
• Dolu Nadir Hawa O Annanya Galpo (2004)

Collection[]

Two volumes have been published compiling selected short stories and novels of Shaheedul Jahir. These are:^[9]

• Shahidul Zahir Nirbachita Golpo (February 2006, Pathak Samabesh, Dhaka, ISBN 9848243380)
• Shahidul Zahir Nirbachita Uponyash (February 2007, Pathak Samabesh, Dhaka, ISBN 9848243402)

Filmography[]

original story

• (2002)
• Valobasha (2019, short)
• (2021)

Televisions[]

original story

• Choturtha Matra (2001)
• Kothay Pabo Tarey
• Kanta (2010)

In popular culture[]

Phulkumar is a film which was based on a story by Zahir. Phulkumar, was made in 2000 by Ashique Mostafa, is adapted from his short story "Ei Shomoy". His short story "Choturtha Matra" was the basis of an award-winning video film by Nurul Alam Atique. Nurul Alam Atique also made a television drama named Kothay Pabo Tarey from the story titled also as Kotay Pabo Tarey in 2009."Jonome jonmantor" Theatre production by Desh Natok from his well-known short story "Kathurey o darkak"^[10]

Awards[]

list of awards

Organizer	Year	Category	Work	Result	Ref.
	2004	Nivel		Won	[11]
	2004	Fiction	Dolu Nadir Hawa O Annanya Galpo (2004)	Won	[12][13]
Prothom Alo Book of the Year	2009	Book of the Year	Abu Ibrahimer Mirtu (2009)	Won	Posthumous[14]

See also[]

• List of Bangladeshi writers

References[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Shahidul Zahir.

• Shahidul Zahir at Library of Congress Authorities
• Works by Shahidul Zahir at Open Library
• Shahidul Zahir at IMDb