Ahmed Sharif (13 February 1921 – 24 February 1999) was an educationist, philosopher, critic, writer and scholar of medieval

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

literature. He is recognized as one of the most outspoken

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

and radical thinkers of Bangladesh.

Background

Sharif was born on 13 February 1921 in

Patiya Patiya ( bn, পটিয়া) is an upazila of Chattogram District in Chattogram Division, Bangladesh. History During the British rule, a police station(thana) was established in Patiya in 1845. It was upgraded to an ''upazila'' in 1984. Th ...

Chittagong District Chittagong District, renamed the Chattogram District, is a district located in the south-eastern region of Bangladesh. It is a part of the Chattogram Division. The port city of Chattogram, which is the second largest city in Bangladesh, is ...

. His father was Abdul Aziz and his uncle was

Abdul Karim Sahitya Bisharad Abdul Karim (1871 – 1953), known as Abdul Karim Sahitya Bisharad, was a Bengali littérateur, historian of Bangla literature and collector and interpreter of old Bangla manuscripts. Early life Karim was born in Suchakradandi village, Bengal Pr ...

, a prominent historian of Bangla literature. He did his master's and Ph.D. degrees in Bengali literature from the University of Dhaka, in 1944 and 1967 respectively. From 1945 to 1949, he taught at Laksham Nawab Faizunnessa College and later on at Feni College. From July 1949 to 17 December 1950 he worked as programme assistant at the Dhaka station of

Radio Pakistan Radio Pakistan serves as the national public broadcaster for radio in Pakistan. Although some local stations predate Radio Pakistan's founding, it is the oldest existing broadcasting network in Pakistan. The network was established on 14 August ...

. Finally, on 18 December 1950, he joined as research assistant in the Bengali Department, University of Dhaka and retired as chairman and professor in 1983. During his time 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 ...

he was elected a member of the Senate, Syndicate, and the president of the Teachers Association and the University Teachers Club. Sharif remained the only person who was elected the dean of the Faculty of Arts for three consecutive terms. After his retirement from the Dhaka University, he was offered to join as first "Kazi Nazrul Islam Professor" at the

University of Chittagong The University of Chittagong ( bn, চট্টগ্রাম বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়, caṭṭagram bishwabidyalay) is a public research university with multidisciplinary faculties situated across a 1754-acres hilly landmas ...

, where he served from 1984 to 1986. He was an active member of the Committee for Civil Liberties and Legal Aid, which was established in March 1974 to protect opposition politicians and members of civil society whose civil liberties were being violated by the Awami League government. He and Lt. Colonel

Kazi Nuruzzaman Kazi Nuruzzaman Bir Uttom (24 March 1925 – 6 May 2011) was a Bangladeshi war hero and secular Bangladeshi nationalism, nationalist, who served as one of the principal commanders of the Mukti Bahini during the Bangladesh Liberation War. He also re ...

led the Muktiyuddha Chetana Bikash Kendra (Centre for the Development of the Spirit of the Liberation War), a group of left-leaning intellectuals who spoke out against the dictatorship of

Hussain Muhammad Ershad Lt. Gen. Hussain Muhammad Ershad ( bn, হুসেইন মুহাম্মদ এরশাদ; 1 February 1930 – 14 July 2019) was a Bangladeshi Army Chief politician who served as the President of Bangladesh from 1983 to 1990, a time ma ...

Views

Sharif taught about

medieval Bengali literature {{unreferenced, date=August 2015 The Middle Bengali language, Middle Bengali Literature is a period in the history of Bengali literature dated from 15th to 18th centuries. Following the Turkic peoples in India, Turkic Muslim in india, Muslim Muslim ...

and regularly gave insights into the history of

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 ...

, 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 ...

and

Rabindranath Tagore Rabindranath Tagore (; bn, রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer and painter. He resh ...

Awards

Bangla Academy Literary Award The Bangla Academy Literary Award ( bn, বাংলা একাডেমি সাহিত্য পুরস্কার; ''Bangla Academy Shahitya Puroshkar''), is given by the Bangla Academy of Bangladesh in recognition of creative genius i ...

(1968) * Dawood Prize for Literature *

Ekushey Padak Ekushey Padak ( bn, একুশে পদক; lit. "Twentyfirst Award") is the second highest civilian award in Bangladesh, introduced in memory of the martyrs of the Bengali Language Movement of 1952. The award is given to recognize contribut ...

(1991)

Death

Sharif died on 24 February 1999, in Dhaka.

References

1921 births 1999 deaths People from Chittagong Bangladeshi male writers Bangladeshi secularists Bangladeshi atheists Chittagong College alumni University of Dhaka faculty Recipients of the Ekushey Padak Recipients of Bangla Academy Award Bangladeshi former Muslims Writers from Chittagong University of Dhaka alumni {{Bangladesh-bio-stub