Prof Abul Fazal led 21 Feb protest in Ctg
Immediately after learning the news of the police attack on language heroes in Dhaka on historic 21 February in 1952, eminent writer Abul Fazal staged and led a demonstration in Chattogram protesting the Pakistan government oppression.
Hundreds of cultural activists, writers and youths took part in the event.
Fazal, who was then serving Chittagong Government College as a professor, contributed a lot to organising the Language Movement in Chattogram, ignoring all the threats and fears. Besides, his writings fueled the socio-cultural revolution in East Pakistan.
Prof Abul Fazal became involved in the cultural movement after joining the college in 1943. He organised regular meetings with local cultural activists at his home "Sahitya Niketan" and raised public awareness about the importance of establishing Bangla as the state language.
In 1949, the professor presided over the reception event of Abdul Karim Sahitya Bisharad, in which an open proposal for recognising Bangla as the state language was discussed.
The brave role of Abul Fazal was also seen in organising the historic four-day cultural conference in Chattogram. Ignoring the pressure from the government intelligence agency and regular defamation on two pro-government newspapers, he successfully arranged the conference, which inspired the entire country to support the agitating language heroes.
Besides, with his rebellious write-ups, the Chattogram-origin Fazal also contributed to the other movements after 1952. The Pakistan government seized several editions of the literary magazine "Samakal" for his anti-government writings.
Born in a Muslim family at Keochia village of Satkaniya in 1903, he studied at Dhaka University and contributed to establishing "Muslim Sahitya Samaj". He also edited several editions of its official journal "Sikha".
Abul Fazal was a fearless and socially committed writer, whose works reflect patriotism, secularism, and humanism. He was known as 'The Nation's conscience' for his bold stand at moments of national crises.
He wrote 50 books in a variety of genres – novels, short stories, plays, memoirs, travels etc. Among them, Chauchir, Jibon Pother Jatri, Ranga Probhat, Poraborton are popular novels. Some of his essays are Sahitya Sangskriti o Jibon, Manobota, Ekushe Mane Matha Noto Na Kora. Rojnamcha, Rekhachitra, Durdiner Dinlipi are his autobiographies.
Subhash Dey is a journalist.
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