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 ...
. The novel is based on an imagined
Islamic fundamentalist
Islamic fundamentalism has been defined as a puritanical, revivalist, and reform movement of Muslims who aim to return to the founding scriptures of Islam. Islamic fundamentalists are of the view that Muslim-majority countries should return t ...
political party that wants to make Bangladesh a Sharia law based
Islamic state
An Islamic state is a state that has a form of government based on Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a translation of the Arabic term ...
.
This novel was deeply critical of Pakistan's Islamic fundamentalists and their Bangladeshi collaborators before the independence of Bangladesh in 1971.
Urdu
Urdu (;"Urdu" '' Hafeez Jullundhri
Abu Al-Asar Hafeez Jalandhari ( ur, ) (born 14 January 1900 – 21 December 1982) was a Pakistani Urdu-language poet who wrote the lyrics for the National Anthem of Pakistan
in 1952. The first stanza of the song is as follows:
The main protagonist character of the novel is a member of a fictitious Islamist political party. The protagonist's views are expressed in his monologue, "''We aren't alone. Our brothers all over the world are doing their work. If they fly a plane into a building somewhere, if cars crash into a hospital or a hotel, or if a bomb blast kills 300 people in some recreational center, then we know it's the work of our brothers; in other words, it is our work. This is Jihad''."
The main male protagonist falls in love with a Hindu girl and later leaves the fundamentalist political party, he also leaves extremist ideology from his mentality.
Controversy
''Pak Sar Jamin Saad Baad'', book was an indirect satirical criticism against the Bangladeshi Islamist far-right political party
Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami
Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami ( bn, বাংলাদেশ জামায়াতে ইসলামী, Bānglādēsh Jāmāyatē Islāmī, Bangladesh Islamic Assembly), previously known as Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh, or Jamaat for short, was ...
. On 27 February 2004, Azad came under a vicious attack by unidentified assailants, it was assumed that the attackers were Islamic fundamentalists; Azad received threats after publishing this book in
The Daily Ittefaq
''The Daily Ittefaq'' ( bn, দৈনিক ইত্তেফাক, translit. ''Doinik Ittefak'') is a Bengali-language daily newspaper. Founded in 1953, it is the oldest newspaper, and one of the most circulated newspapers in Bangladesh. Thi ...
on 2003. The political party blamed by Azad in the book was titled as "Jama'-e-Jihad-e Islam Party", this party, its ideologies and activities written in the novel were believed to be a metaphor of
Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh
Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami ( bn, বাংলাদেশ জামায়াতে ইসলামী, Bānglādēsh Jāmāyatē Islāmī, Bangladesh Islamic Assembly), previously known as Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh, or Jamaat for short, was ...
Rapid Action Battalion
Rapid Action Battalion or RAB, is an anti-crime and anti-terrorism unit of the Bangladesh Police. This elite force consists of members of the Bangladesh Army, Bangladesh Police, Bangladesh Navy, Bangladesh Air Force, Border Guard Bangladesh, B ...
(a law enforcement agency of Bangladesh government) in 2006 that Azad was attacked by their members, after some of the organization's leading members were arrested. After the attack, Azad was immediately taken to
Combined Military Hospital (Dhaka)
Combined Military Hospital (Dhaka) or CMH is a hospital located in Dhaka Cantonment. It is part of the Combined Military Hospital chain situated in all cantonments of Bangladesh
Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangl ...
by the order of the then
Prime Minister of Bangladesh
The Prime Minister of Bangladesh ( bn, বাংলাদেশের প্রধানমন্ত্রী, translit=Bangladesher Prodhanmontri), officially Prime Minister of the People's Republic of Bangladesh ( bn, গণপ্রজা ...
Khaleda Zia
Khaleda Zia (; born Khaleda Khanam Putul in 1945) is a Bangladeshi politician who served as the Prime Minister of Bangladesh from March 1991 to March 1996, and again from June 2001 to October 2006. She was the first female prime minister of Ba ...
.
In late July 2004, Azad wrote a moving letter to the
Prime Minister of Bangladesh
The Prime Minister of Bangladesh ( bn, বাংলাদেশের প্রধানমন্ত্রী, translit=Bangladesher Prodhanmontri), officially Prime Minister of the People's Republic of Bangladesh ( bn, গণপ্রজা ...
and other political leaders calling on them to restore freedom of speech in Bangladesh and pleading for protection to himself and his family. Azad died in August, 2004 in Germany following his recovery from ill-health, he died on the night of 11th of the month, the day he reached there.
Criticism
Bangladeshi novelist, filmmaker and dramatist
Humayun Ahmed
Humayun Ahmed (; 13 November 1948 – 19 July 2012) was a Bangladeshi novelist, dramatist, screenwriter, filmmaker, songwriter, scholar, and professor. His breakthrough was his debut novel '' Nondito Noroke'' published in 1972. He wrote over 20 ...
called the book "so vulgar that anybody would be hurt after reading it. He doesn't have to be a
fundamentalist
Fundamentalism is a tendency among certain groups and individuals that is characterized by the application of a strict literal interpretation to scriptures, dogmas, or ideologies, along with a strong belief in the importance of distinguishi ...