One thing I realized while interviewing in Dhaka, the story of partition does not end with 1947 here. It goes as far as 1971. History is connected. One cannot relate their 1947 story without 1971 and vice versa.
Today I met with Prof. Abul Alam, a former Professor of Physics in B.L College, Daulatpur, Khulna. Born in 1930, Prof. Alam's early days were spent in Barisal. He was an exceptional student, stood 9th in order of merit in the High Madrasah Examination under Dhaka Board in 1945 and also got scholarship in the I.Sc. Examination under the Calcutta University in 1947. He had made plans to go to Shibpur Engineering College in W. Bengal, but due to partition the same year, his plans were shattered. Later, he went to B.M College and got his B.Sc. in 1949 and M. Sc in Physics from Salimullah Muslim Hall, Dhaka University in 1952, and LL.B from Karachi University in 1967.
Prof. Alam had many Hindu friends in school and college. He fondly remembers, Satya Ranjan Sengupta, Bimalendu Das, Sunil, Anil and Shanti Biswas, Amulya Sheel, Rakhal Chandra Chouwdhury and many others. All of his friends migrated to W. Bengal along with their families. Prof. Alam bears that pain in his heart to this date and still maintains contact with the surviving ones of them in Kolkata.
Even though partition was a very much welcome chapter in his early life, Prof. Alam felt later that 1971 was inevitable. Though he was not there in Dhaka University when Jinnah had said, "Urdu, and Urdu alone shall be the State language of Pakistan", he, still in Barisal, resented it very much . He was ever an active participant in the Language Movement and took part in the procession of 21st Feb 1952.
He has seen the turmoil of the nine months of 1971 and feels proud to be a Bangladeshi.
Today, Prof. Alam is retired (Legal Officer, UNESCO, Paris), and lives in Montreal, Canada. He spends his leisure time in social work, writing, Photography, reading and occasionally playing his favourite bamboo Flute and Violin.
Today I met with Prof. Abul Alam, a former Professor of Physics in B.L College, Daulatpur, Khulna. Born in 1930, Prof. Alam's early days were spent in Barisal. He was an exceptional student, stood 9th in order of merit in the High Madrasah Examination under Dhaka Board in 1945 and also got scholarship in the I.Sc. Examination under the Calcutta University in 1947. He had made plans to go to Shibpur Engineering College in W. Bengal, but due to partition the same year, his plans were shattered. Later, he went to B.M College and got his B.Sc. in 1949 and M. Sc in Physics from Salimullah Muslim Hall, Dhaka University in 1952, and LL.B from Karachi University in 1967.
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| Prof. Abul Alam relates his story of partition in Dhaka |
Prof. Alam remembers the days before 1947. The Muslims of the then Bengal overwhelmingly supported the idea of a separate State for the Muslims. During Roll Call in the class (B.M.College, Barisal), Muslim students yelled "Pakistan" as for attendance. They would write ‘Pakistan’ in their mailing addresses on letters/postcards even though it was still British India and Pakistan was yet to come much later.
Prof. Alam saw the changes that took place gradually. Upto 1946 both Hindus and some young Muslim men wore Dhoti outside their home. As partition came nearer, Muslim men adopted pajama and kurta. All professors in BM College until 1947 were Hindus, except for the Moulvi Sahebs for Arabic. In 1948, the first Muslim Professor joined the college in the Political Science Department.
Prof. Alam had many Hindu friends in school and college. He fondly remembers, Satya Ranjan Sengupta, Bimalendu Das, Sunil, Anil and Shanti Biswas, Amulya Sheel, Rakhal Chandra Chouwdhury and many others. All of his friends migrated to W. Bengal along with their families. Prof. Alam bears that pain in his heart to this date and still maintains contact with the surviving ones of them in Kolkata.
Even though partition was a very much welcome chapter in his early life, Prof. Alam felt later that 1971 was inevitable. Though he was not there in Dhaka University when Jinnah had said, "Urdu, and Urdu alone shall be the State language of Pakistan", he, still in Barisal, resented it very much . He was ever an active participant in the Language Movement and took part in the procession of 21st Feb 1952.
He has seen the turmoil of the nine months of 1971 and feels proud to be a Bangladeshi.
Today, Prof. Alam is retired (Legal Officer, UNESCO, Paris), and lives in Montreal, Canada. He spends his leisure time in social work, writing, Photography, reading and occasionally playing his favourite bamboo Flute and Violin.
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| Prof. Alam plays a folk, "Amay eto rate kene daak dili..." on his flute at my request. |
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