Manjur Karim Piash ( bn, মনজুর করিম পিয়াস; 1958 – October 13, 2014) popularly known as Piash Karim was a professor, researcher and political commentator with specializations in

political economy Political economy is the study of how Macroeconomics, economic systems (e.g. Marketplace, markets and Economy, national economies) and Politics, political systems (e.g. law, Institution, institutions, government) are linked. Widely studied ph ...

, political sociology,

nationalism Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a in-group and out-group, group of peo ...

and social theory. After independence, he completed his bachelor's degree from 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 ...

and went to the US for higher studies. In his long career as a teacher, he taught at the

University of Nebraska–Lincoln The University of Nebraska–Lincoln (Nebraska, NU, or UNL) is a public land-grant research university in Lincoln, Nebraska. Chartered in 1869 by the Nebraska Legislature as part of the Morrill Act of 1862, the school was known as the Universit ...

Culver–Stockton College Culver–Stockton College is a private Christian liberal arts college in Canton, Missouri. It was founded as Christian University in 1853 as the first institution west of the Mississippi River chartered specifically for men and women. As of fa ...

and

BRAC University BRAC University ( bn, ব্র্যাক বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়, also known as BracU) is a private research university located in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It was established in 2001 as a branch of Sir Fazle Hasan Abed's BRAC un ...

. Karim had authored several of books and journals on nationalism and sociology.

Early life and education

Karim was born in 1958 in Comilla. His father M.A. Karim was a member of the founding committee of the Comilla unit of

Awami League In Urdu language, Awami is the adjectival form for '' Awam'', the Urdu language word for common people. The adjective appears in the following proper names: *Awami Colony, a neighbourhood of Landhi Town in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan *Awami Front, wa ...

, and served as the treasurer of Awami League district unit for a long time. His uncle served as the second

Inspector General of Police An Inspector General of Police is a senior police officer in the police force or police service of several nations. The rank usually refers to the head of a large regional command within a police service, and in many countries refers to the most se ...

. Piash Karim received his primary education from Comilla Modern School and secondary education from Comilla Zila School. He completed his higher secondary education from

Adamjee Cantonment College Adamjee Cantonment Public School and College ( bn, আদমজী ক্যান্টনমেন্ট পাব্লিক স্কুল এন্ড কলেজ) is an Junior college, intermediate college in Dhaka Cantonment, Dhaka, Ban ...

, Dhaka. Later, Karim obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree from the

. He completed his master's degree and PhD in Sociology at

Kansas State University Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public instit ...

after moving to the United States. He was arrested by

Pakistan Army The Pakistan Army (, ) is the Army, land service branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The roots of its modern existence trace back to the British Indian Army that ceased to exist following the partition of India, Partition of British India, wh ...

of occupation 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 ...

of 1971 for distributing leaflets in favour of the freedom movement of Bangladesh.

Career

Karim, after completing his master's degree and PhD, served as a faculty member of two American universities for seventeen years. He joined the

as a faculty member and was promoted to a Professor of the university. Later, he worked as a Professor at

, Missouri for another few years. In 2007 he returned to Bangladesh and joined

as a Professor of Economics and Social Sciences Department. In

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 ...

, he wrote several articles on nationalist politics, civil society and media activism.

Views

Karim was opposed to the Shahbag protests and criticized the neutrality of the International Crimes Tribunal. As result, his house was attacked by bombs and death threats were made against him.

Personal life and death

Karim was married to Dr. Amena Mohsin, a Professor of International Relations at the University of Dhaka. His only son lives in Dhaka. On October 13, 2014, he died in a cardiac arrest on his way to Square Hospital from his home at the age of 56.

Nobel Laureate The Nobel Prizes ( sv, Nobelpriset, no, Nobelprisen) are awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Swedish Academy, the Karolinska Institutet, and the Norwegian Nobel Committee to individuals and organizations who make out ...

and prominent economist Dr.

Muhammad Yunus Muhammad Yunus (born 28 June 1940) is a Bangladeshi social entrepreneur, banker, economist and civil society leader who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for founding the Grameen Bank and pioneering the concepts of microcredit and microfinance ...

mourned his sudden death terming him as a "fearless and principled intellectual". After his death leftist student organizations threatened to desecrate his body if it was brought to the Shaheed Minar.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Karim, Piash 1958 births 2014 deaths University of Nebraska–Lincoln faculty People from Comilla District University of Dhaka alumni Culver–Stockton College faculty BRAC University faculty