Munier Chowdhury

Munier Chowdhury (born: 27 November 1925 - died: 14 December 1971) was a Bangladeshi educator, playwright, literary critic and political dissident.

Chowdhury graduated from Dhaka Collegiate School in 1941. He attended Aligarh Muslim University and later studied English literature for his Bachelors degree (with honors, 1946) and Masters (1947) at the Dhaka University. In 1954, he completed a second Masters degree, summa cum laude, in Bangka. In 1958, he obtained another Masters in Linguistics from Harvard University.

Munier Chowdhury started his career in teaching at Brojolal College in Khulna and worked there between 1947 and 1950. Later he worked for some time at the Jagannath College in Dhaka in 1950. After that, he joined the Dhaka University in 1950 and taught both in English and Bengali language departments between 1950 and 1971.

Munier Chowdhury actively participated in the Language Movement of 1952, and was imprisoned by the Pakistan government. He wrote his famous symbolic drama, Kabar (The Grave) during his imprisonment. He also fought against any type of cultural repression during the late 1950s and 1960s. In 1967, he protested against the Pakistan government's directive to ban Tagore songs on Radio and Television.

Kabar (1952), Raktakta Pranrar (1959), Mir-Manas (1965), Munier Optima (1965)- Bangla keyboard layout design, Chithi (1966), Tulanamulak Samalochana (1969), Bangla Gadyariti (1970) was the famous & important works of munir chowdhury.

Bangla Academy Prize (1962), Daud Prize (1965), Sitara-e-Imtiaz (1966), awarded by Govt. of Pakistan.

On 14 December 1971 Munier Chowdhury, along with a large number of Bengali intellectuals, educators, doctors and engineers, was kidnapped from their houses and later tortured and executed by the Pakistan Army and its Bengali collaborators (Jammat activists, Al-Badr, Al-Shams), only 2 days before the end of the Bangladesh War. His body was never found.

 

Munier Chowdhury is survived by his wife Lily Chowdhury and three sons Ahmed Munier, Ashfaq Munier and Asif Munier. Ashfaq Munier is at present the CEO of the Bangladeshi satellite channel ATN NEWS. Asif Munier is a leading activist for human rights in the country and was a founder member of Projonmo Ekattor, a leading human rights group in Bangladesh, which initiated the building of the Rayer Bazar Smriti Shoudho (Rayer Bazar Memorial) in Dhaka. This memorial was built on the barren land on which the Pakistani army dumped the bodies of the intellectuals after murdering them. Projonmo Ekattor also campaigns for the trial of war criminals of 1971. Asif Munier also runs his own theatre group, Bongorongo, through which he stages his fathers plays regularly.