A. T. M. Shamsuddin (1927–2009), also known by the pen name ''Charubak'', was a Bangladeshi author, journalist, translator,

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

and union organizer. He served as the general secretary of the East Pakistan Journalists Union and as a member of the Chittagong All Party Language Movement Committee.

Early life

Abu Taher Muhammad Shamsuddin, also known as Taher Shamsuddin, was born in

Chittagong Chittagong ( /ˈtʃɪt əˌɡɒŋ/ ''chit-uh-gong''; ctg, চিটাং; bn, চিটাগং), officially Chattogram ( bn, চট্টগ্রাম), is the second-largest city in Bangladesh after Dhaka and third largest city in B ...

in southern

Bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...

, later

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

. His father, Ahmedur Rahman, was an employee of the

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

port commission, and his mother died when he was three years old. His father remarried to Shamsuddin's mother's cousin, who also later died; he was raised in his maternal uncle's household.

Active in politics

Shamsuddin was active against British colonial power and was jailed. When studying in class nine, he was assistant secretary of Zila Muslim Chatra League. He never graduated. Later, he was a strict communist and worked for the party while it remained underground. He joined the Pakistan Movement.

Editor

Shamsuddin first joined the weekly '' The Daily Ittefaq''. In 1961, he joined the Dhaka daily newspaper ''

The Sangbad ''The Sangbad'' ( bn, সংবাদ) is a Bengali-language daily newspaper, founded in 1951 and published from Dhaka, Bangladesh. It is the oldest newspaper in Bangladesh. History The Sangbad was founded in 1951 and published from Dhaka, B ...

'' as an assistant editor. He served as editor for '' Udayan'', '' Jubobarta'', '' Soviet Somikkha'', '' Soviet Review''.

Career in Soviet Embassy

He worked at the

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

embassy in

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city ...

and was the general manager of the press information department. He retired after 21 years.

Works

He wrote many satire and adventure stories. In 1966, his first novel ''Bonanir Buke'' was published. Qazi Anwar Hussain inspired him and beginning in 1987, he wrote stories of Batamul in Rohosho Potrika. His first translation was '' Hoja Nasiruddin''. He made many translations including ''Pakistan Jakhan Bhanglo'', the memoirs of Lt. Gen.

Gul Hassan Khan Gul Hassan Khan ( ur, گل حسن خان) (1921; b. 1921—10 October 1999), was a Pakistan Army senior general who served as the 6th and the last Commander-in-Chief of Pakistan Army, serving under President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto from 20 Decembe ...

References

Bangladeshi male writers Bengali writers Bengali-language writers 1927 births 2009 deaths {{Bangladesh-bio-stub