Abdur Razzaq ( bn, আবদুর রাজ্জাক; – 28 November 1999) was a Bangladeshi scholar, academic, public intellectual and one of the first
National Professor
National Professor ( bn, জাতীয় অধ্যাপক) is a prestigious teaching award given by the Government of Bangladesh for outstanding contribution on the field of education. It is awarded by the president of Bangladesh according ...
s of Bangladesh.
Early life and education
Razzaq was born in 1914 in the Paragram village of
Nawabganj Upazila of
Dhaka District
Dhaka District ( bn, ঢাকা জেলা, Dhaka jela) is a district in central Bangladesh, and is the densest district in the nation. It is a part of the Dhaka Division. Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, and rests on the eastern banks o ...
. His father, Abdul Ali, was a police officer. After his matriculation from the
Government Muslim High School
Government Muslim High School ( bn, গভ. মুসলিম হাই স্কুল, চট্টগ্রাম) is a government secondary boys-only school in the court hill area of Kotwali Thana, Chittagong, Bangladesh. The school's enro ...
, Dhaka and intermediate exam from
Dhaka College
Dhaka College ( bn, ঢাকা কলেজ also known as DC) is the oldest secular educational institution of Bangladesh located in Dhaka. It offers higher secondary education ( HSC). It has Honours and Masters programs as well which are aff ...
, he was admitted to the department of political economy at the
University of Dhaka
The University of Dhaka (also known as Dhaka University, or DU) is a public research university located in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It is the oldest university in Bangladesh. The university opened its doors to students on July 1st 1921. Currently i ...
in 1931. In 1936, he completed his masters and then joined as a lecturer in the same department. When the department of political economy was bisected, he chose to join the department of political science. After the second world war, he went to
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
to study under
Harold Laski
Harold Joseph Laski (30 June 1893 – 24 March 1950) was an English political theorist and economist. He was active in politics and served as the chairman of the British Labour Party from 1945 to 1946 and was a professor at the London School of ...
at
London School of Economics
, mottoeng = To understand the causes of things
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £240.8 million (2021)
, budget = £391.1 millio ...
. He returned home without any formal degree after Laski had died in 1950 and carried on teaching in the department of political science at the University of Dhaka until 1975. He also taught in the departments of economics and international relations.
[
]
Career
Razzaq's political ideas influenced anti-Ayub
Ayub (Arabic: ايّوب ''Ayūb'', commonly written ايوب) is the Arabic name of the Abrahamic prophet Job. Here it refers to the Islamic prophet which is mentioned in the Quran, see Job in Islam.
The spread of the name among Muslims is partl ...
-government movements during the 1960s; to get rid of his influence, the Ayub regime tried to "dismiss him from his teaching position at the University of Dhaka on the allegation that he was not mindful of his duties as a teacher, but which the government failed to establish in the court".[ During the ]Bangladesh Liberation War
The Bangladesh Liberation War ( bn, মুক্তিযুদ্ধ, , also known as the Bangladesh War of Independence, or simply the Liberation War in Bangladesh) was a revolution and War, armed conflict sparked by the rise of the Benga ...
, he witnessed the March 1971 Dhaka University massacre
In March 1971, the Pakistan Army Eastern Wing Commander Tikka Khan launched Operation Searchlight on the orders of dictator Yahya Khan to crush the Bengali nationalist movement. As part of the operation, the Pakistani forces performed the 1971 ...
. The Pakistanis came to arrest him at his home, but alerted by their kicking at his door, he escaped out the back. The Yahya Khan
General Agha Muhammad Yahya Khan , (Urdu: ; 4 February 1917 – 10 August 1980); commonly known as Yahya Khan, was a Pakistani military general who served as the third President of Pakistan and Chief Martial Law Administrator following his pr ...
-government sentenced him ''in absentia'' to a fourteen-year rigorous imprisonment, accusing him of treasonable acts.
Though Razzaq, apart from some essays and lectures, has no published works, many intellectuals have admitted his influence on their published works. Ahmed Sofa
Ahmed Sofa ( bn, আহমদ ছফা, ; 30 June 194328 July 2001) was a Bangladeshi writer, thinker, novelist, poet, philosopher and public intellectual. Sofa is considered by many, including National Professor Abdur Razzaq (Professor), Abdur ...
wrote his book, ''Jaddapi Amar Guru (Eventhough My Teacher)'', on Razzaq's life. Sardar Fazlul Karim
Sardar Fazlul Karim ( bn, সরদার ফজলুল করিম; 1 May 1925 – 15 June 2014) was a scholar, academic, philosopher and essayist in Bangladesh.
Early life and family
Sardar Fazlul Karim was born on 1 May 1925, to a lower mi ...
published a book, ''Dhaka Bisshobiddalay O Purbabangya Samaj'', based on his interviews of Razzaq. Salimullah Khan
Salimullah Khan ( bn, সলিমুল্লাহ খান; born 18 August 1958) is a Bangladeshi writer. Khan explores national and international politics and culture using Marxist and Lacanian theories. Informed and influenced by Ahmed Sofa ...
wrote a book on his lecture ‘’Bangladesh: State of the Nation’’. Muntassir Mamoon
Muntasir Mamoon (born 1951) his full name is Muntasir Uddin Khan Mamun, he is a Bangladeshi writer, historian, scholar, secularist, translator, and professor at University of Dhaka. He was awarded Bangla Academy Literary Award and Ekushey Padak ...
, Humayun Azad
Humayun Azad (born Humayun Kabir; 28 April 1947 – 12 August 2004) was a Bangladeshi poet, novelist, short-story writer, critic, linguist, columnist and professor of Dhaka University. He wrote more than sixty titles. He was awarded the Bangl ...
and others reminisced about him.[ It is claimed that he had as his students more than 70 members of parliament, among whom ]Sheikh Mujibur Rahman
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman ( bn, শেখ মুজিবুর রহমান; 17 March 1920 – 15 August 1975), often shortened as Sheikh Mujib or Mujib and widely known as Bangabandhu (meaning ''Friend of Bengal''), was a Bengalis, Beng ...
is the most notable.
Honors
To acknowledge his unique status as a teacher, the Government of Bangladesh
The Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh ( bn, গণপ্রজাতন্ত্রী বাংলাদেশ সরকার — ) is the central executive government of Bangladesh. The government was constituted by the Con ...
honored him with the distinction of National Professor
National Professor ( bn, জাতীয় অধ্যাপক) is a prestigious teaching award given by the Government of Bangladesh for outstanding contribution on the field of education. It is awarded by the president of Bangladesh according ...
in 1975. In 1973, the University of Delhi
Delhi University (DU), formally the University of Delhi, is a collegiate central university located in New Delhi, India. It was founded in 1922 by an Act of the Central Legislative Assembly and is recognized as an Institute of Eminence (IoE) ...
awarded him an honorary D.Litt. degree.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Razzaq, Abdur
1910s births
1999 deaths
Dhaka College alumni
University of Dhaka alumni
Academic staff of the University of Dhaka
National Professors of Bangladesh
Honorary Fellows of Bangla Academy
20th-century Bengalis
People from Dhaka District