Md Shahnawaz Khan Chandan
Great
philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson says, “The office of the scholar is to
cheer, to raise, and to guide men by showing them facts amidst
appearances. He plies the slow, unhonoured, and unpaid task of
observation. He is the world's eye.”
With the departure of Professor Dr Zillur Rahman Siddiqui, one of the greatest scholars of Bangladesh, we have lost the eye of our wisdom and conscience. His encyclopedic knowledge and scholarly contributions have taken our nation forward to establish a progressive society. He has played an important role to lead the country towards the democratic path when it was on the brink of an uncertain future. His literary contributions, essays on sociopolitical issues, researches on Bangladesh's education sector and memoirs have guided the nation like a beacon of wisdom.
Zillur Rahman Siddiqui was born on February 23, 1928 at his ancestral home in Bangladesh's (then East Bengal) Jhenidah district. Raised in his native village, Siddiqui went to a village school which was founded by his grandfather. His father Fazlur Rahman Siddiqui was a school teacher in Calcutta. In his15 years of teaching, his father was transferred to different parts of the then united Bengal and Siddiqui also got the chance to travel with him.
After passing matriculation with some brilliant result, Siddiqui got admitted to the Caulcutta Presidency College in 1945. But for the inhabitants of Calcutta it was a troubled time. Riots broke out on the issue of the partition of India, killing thousands of people. At that time Siddiqui took shelter in a Muslim boys' hostel and stayed there for three months. Amidst the suffering Siddiqui also attained brilliant results in the intermediate exam and joined the English Department at Dhaka University in 1947.
After finishing his masters' with outstanding marks, Siddiqui was awarded with a government scholarship to study at Oxford University. After returning from Oxford in 1954 he joined as a Professor of Dhaka College. It was the beginning of his eventful teaching career. From 1955 to 1973, he taught in Rajshahi University for almost two decades. He was appointed the Vice Chancellor of Jahangirnagar University twice and also worked as a visiting professor of Bishwabharati Univeristy.
He published a literary journal called Purbamegh along with Mustafa Nurul Islam during the early 60s and continued the publication till 1971. It became a platform for emerging writers to write against Pakistani oppression. At that time he also translated John Milton's epic essay Areopagitica into Bengali.
Siddiqui
was also renowned for his poems and essays on some diversified topics.
His sonnets such as Hridoye Janapade (1975) and Chand Dube Gele (1984)
were acclaimed for encapsulating complex human emotions in a simple
language with minimum words. After the liberation followed by the
killing of intellectuals, Bangladesh suffered a massive blow. At that
time Siddiqui's essays on literature and his translations of world
literature contributed a lot to resuscitate Bangladesh's intellectual
life.
Immediately after the liberation, he served the nation from various significant positions. He served as the Director of Bangladesh's University Grants Commission. He also worked as the fellow of Bangla Academy and edited a Bengali to English Dictionary which was published by Bangla Academy (1973). He also edited poems of renowned Bengali poet Farrukh Ahmed.
As an academician Siddiqui served the nation with his concrete researches on the higher education of Bangladesh. He has put emphasis on language education in higher and professional studies. In one of his essays he says, “Even many educated persons believed that for the students who were going to be engineers, doctors, chemists or physicists, spending time on learning language is a sheer waste. From this belief, the scope of learning languages has been reduced in higher secondary and degree courses. As a result, the students of engineering, medical science, chemistry or physics are facing a great difficulty in pursuing higher studies and to be an expert in their subject. They have to face the bitter reality that it is important to be proficient in one's native language and in the foreign language as well. But they had the chance to learn it earlier.” (Translated from his prose, “Bangladesher Ucchoshikkha Shonkot O Shombhabona”).
His research based books such as 'Higher Education in Bangladesh 1947-1992', 'Quest for a Civil Society', 'Visions and Revisions' are of great scholarly values. He played an important role in the restoration of democracy in Bangladesh as an adviser of the first caretaker government of 1990-1991. On his experiences as a member of one of the most significant cabinets in the history of Bangladesh he wrote a book named “Jokhon Tottabodyaok Sarkar e Chhilam (When I was in the Caretaker Government, 1997).
For his anthology of poems n “Hridoye Janapade” he was awarded the Bangla Academy Award (1979), the country's most prestigious literary award. He was conferred the Shadhinota Padak in 2010, one of the country's highest civilian awards.
But despite all these recognitions, as a nation we did very little to honour this great scholar. Throughout his life he guided the nation to the path of a knowledge-based society where free thinking would be the tool for development.
The writer can be contacted at shahnawaz.khan@thedailystar.net
Professor Dr Zillur Rahman Siddiqui Photo: Star File
With the departure of Professor Dr Zillur Rahman Siddiqui, one of the greatest scholars of Bangladesh, we have lost the eye of our wisdom and conscience. His encyclopedic knowledge and scholarly contributions have taken our nation forward to establish a progressive society. He has played an important role to lead the country towards the democratic path when it was on the brink of an uncertain future. His literary contributions, essays on sociopolitical issues, researches on Bangladesh's education sector and memoirs have guided the nation like a beacon of wisdom.
Zillur Rahman Siddiqui was born on February 23, 1928 at his ancestral home in Bangladesh's (then East Bengal) Jhenidah district. Raised in his native village, Siddiqui went to a village school which was founded by his grandfather. His father Fazlur Rahman Siddiqui was a school teacher in Calcutta. In his15 years of teaching, his father was transferred to different parts of the then united Bengal and Siddiqui also got the chance to travel with him.
After passing matriculation with some brilliant result, Siddiqui got admitted to the Caulcutta Presidency College in 1945. But for the inhabitants of Calcutta it was a troubled time. Riots broke out on the issue of the partition of India, killing thousands of people. At that time Siddiqui took shelter in a Muslim boys' hostel and stayed there for three months. Amidst the suffering Siddiqui also attained brilliant results in the intermediate exam and joined the English Department at Dhaka University in 1947.
After finishing his masters' with outstanding marks, Siddiqui was awarded with a government scholarship to study at Oxford University. After returning from Oxford in 1954 he joined as a Professor of Dhaka College. It was the beginning of his eventful teaching career. From 1955 to 1973, he taught in Rajshahi University for almost two decades. He was appointed the Vice Chancellor of Jahangirnagar University twice and also worked as a visiting professor of Bishwabharati Univeristy.
He published a literary journal called Purbamegh along with Mustafa Nurul Islam during the early 60s and continued the publication till 1971. It became a platform for emerging writers to write against Pakistani oppression. At that time he also translated John Milton's epic essay Areopagitica into Bengali.
Professor Zillur Rahman Siddiqui and Sumana Biswas were reciting poem on Tagore's Poetry Recitation Day, 2005. Photo: Star File
Immediately after the liberation, he served the nation from various significant positions. He served as the Director of Bangladesh's University Grants Commission. He also worked as the fellow of Bangla Academy and edited a Bengali to English Dictionary which was published by Bangla Academy (1973). He also edited poems of renowned Bengali poet Farrukh Ahmed.
As an academician Siddiqui served the nation with his concrete researches on the higher education of Bangladesh. He has put emphasis on language education in higher and professional studies. In one of his essays he says, “Even many educated persons believed that for the students who were going to be engineers, doctors, chemists or physicists, spending time on learning language is a sheer waste. From this belief, the scope of learning languages has been reduced in higher secondary and degree courses. As a result, the students of engineering, medical science, chemistry or physics are facing a great difficulty in pursuing higher studies and to be an expert in their subject. They have to face the bitter reality that it is important to be proficient in one's native language and in the foreign language as well. But they had the chance to learn it earlier.” (Translated from his prose, “Bangladesher Ucchoshikkha Shonkot O Shombhabona”).
His research based books such as 'Higher Education in Bangladesh 1947-1992', 'Quest for a Civil Society', 'Visions and Revisions' are of great scholarly values. He played an important role in the restoration of democracy in Bangladesh as an adviser of the first caretaker government of 1990-1991. On his experiences as a member of one of the most significant cabinets in the history of Bangladesh he wrote a book named “Jokhon Tottabodyaok Sarkar e Chhilam (When I was in the Caretaker Government, 1997).
For his anthology of poems n “Hridoye Janapade” he was awarded the Bangla Academy Award (1979), the country's most prestigious literary award. He was conferred the Shadhinota Padak in 2010, one of the country's highest civilian awards.
But despite all these recognitions, as a nation we did very little to honour this great scholar. Throughout his life he guided the nation to the path of a knowledge-based society where free thinking would be the tool for development.
The writer can be contacted at shahnawaz.khan@thedailystar.net
Published: 12:00 am Friday, November 21, 2014
