Jatin Sarker (born 25 August 1935) is a

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 ...

intellectual, researcher and biographer of Bangladesh. He was awarded the

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 ...

in 2008 for research and essays and

Independence Day Award The Independence Day Award ( bn, স্বাধীনতা পদক), also termed Independence Award ( bn, স্বাধীনতা পুরস্কার), Swadhinata Padak, and Swadhinata Puroskar, is the highest state award given by t ...

in 2010 for education. As of September 2021, he has published 35 books.

Early life

Sarker was born on 25 August 1935 in Chandapara village,

Kendua Upazila Kendua ( bn, কেন্দুয়া) is an upazila of Netrokona District in the Division of Mymensingh, Bangladesh. Geography Kendua is located at . It has 51221 households and total area 303.6 km2. Demographics According to 2011 Bang ...

Netrokona Netrokona ( bn, নেত্রকোনা) is a major town and District headquarter in Netrokona District in the Mymensingh Division, division of Mymensingh. It is the largest town and urban centre of Netrokona District. References

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of the-then

Mymensingh Mymensingh ( bn, ময়মনসিংহ) is the capital of Mymensingh Division, Bangladesh. Located on the bank of Brahmaputra River, about north of the national capital Dhaka, it is a major financial center and educational hub of north ...

district in

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

. He was the eldest of three children, two brothers and a sister. He married in 1965 and with his wife Kanon Sarker has one son, namely, Suman Sarker (he lives in Slovakia) and a daughter, namely, Sudipta Sarkar (she lives in Bangladesh). He is a member of Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB)'s Committees of Concerned Citizens of Bangladesh.

Career

Sarker took the profession of teaching after graduation by joining the Ashulia College in Netrikona in 1957. Later he joined the Nasirabad College in 1964 where he taught

Bengali literature Bengali literature ( bn, বাংলা সাহিত্য, Bangla Sahityô) denotes the body of writings in the Bengali language and which covers Old Bengali, Middle- Bengali and Modern Bengali with the changes through the passage of time ...

at the pre-university and undergraduate levels until his retirement in 2002. Since the late 1960s, Sarker has remained involved in the cultural activities of Mymensingh. He has been a member of Mymensingh Press Club since long. In 2007, he started a magazine titled ''Shomaj, Orthonithir O Rastro'' (tr. The Society, Economy and State). Sarker served as the president of Udichi Central Sangsad of

Bangladesh Udichi Shilpigoshthi Bangladesh Udichi Shilpigoshthi ( bn, বাংলাদেশ উদীচী শিল্পীগোষ্ঠী) is the largest cultural organisation in Bangladesh. The organisation's goal is the struggle to build what it deems a just, free, a ...

. Sarker's latest book "Prottoy Protigya Protibha" was published in February 2019.

Political philosophy

Sarker has always spoken for upholding and ensuring human rights and for resisting social oppression, discrimination and communal politics. On 29 April 2006, he presided over a regional dialogue on national election policy and the initiative of the civil society in Mymensingh.CPD Election Programme
/ref> As chair of a meeting organised in Mymensingh in observance of the

World Press Freedom Day The United Nations General Assembly declared May 3 to be World Press Freedom Day or just World Press Day, observed to raise awareness of the importance of freedom of the press and remind governments of their duty to respect and uphold the right ...

in 2006, he said that now everything is captured by money and, consequently, it is so difficult to ensure freedom of press since the press is owned and controlled by the corporations and business magnets who act in favour of capitalism and serve as an agent of capitalist imperialism and globalisation. There is certainly a strong relationship among media and development and poverty alleviation but poverty will never be reduced until corruption, injustice, inequality etc. eliminated from the society. He urged all to achieve freedom and establish one's right through continuous struggle." He believes that religion-based politics should be banned in line with the constitution of Bangladesh of 1972. He also maintained that the Members of the Parliaments should not be involved in activities other than legislating. Sarker was arrested on 3 March 1976 and detained for 18 months.

Awards

* "Doctor Muhammad Enamul Haque Gold Medal" by

Bangla Academy The Bangla Academy ( bn, বাংলা একাডেমি, ) is an autonomous institution funded by the Bangladesh government to foster the Bengali language, literature and culture, to develop and implement national language policy and to d ...

* "Prothom Alo Best Book of the Year 1411" for his book titled ''Pakistaner Janmo Mrityu-Darshan'' (2006) *

(2008) * Narayanganj Shruti Gold Medal * Mymensingh Press Club Literary Award * Khaleq Dad Chowdhury Literary Award * Moniruddin Yusuf Literary Award.

Documentary

Noted film-maker

Tanvir Mokammel Tanvir Mokammel (born 8 March 1955) is a Bangladeshi filmmaker and writer. He is the recipient of Ekushey Padak in 2017. He won Bangladesh National Film Awards total ten times for the films ''Nodir Naam Modhumoti'' (1995), '' Chitra Nodir Pare'' ( ...

produced a documentary ''1971'' with a section on Sarker. It was released in March 2006.

Publications

So far Sarker has published 17 titles to his credit. One of his important publication is ''Pakistaner Janmo Mrityu-Darshan'', published in 2005. Another important book is ''Bangladesher Kavigan'' published by

in 1985. Some other books are ''Sahittyar Kachey Pratyasha'', ''Bangalee Somajtantrik Otihya'', ''Sankritir Sangram'', ''Manab Mon, Manab Dharma and Shomaj Biplab'', ''Aamaader Chintacharchar Dig-diganta '', ''Sirajuddin Kashimpuri '', ''Haricharan Acharjya '', ''Golpe Golpe Bakyaran'' and ''Dijatitatwa Niotibad O BijnanChetona '',

Personal life

Sarker has been living in

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since 2005.

References

External links

Stretnutie s bangladéšskym spisovateľom Jatinom Sarkerom by Martin Krno
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sarker, Jatin Living people 1935 births People from Netrokona District Bengali-language writers Bangladeshi scholars Recipients of Bangla Academy Award Recipients of the Independence Day Award Communist Party of Bangladesh politicians