''The Unfinished Memories'' ( bn, অসমাপ্ত আত্মজীবনী) is the autobiography by

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 Bengali politi ...

, founding father of

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 ...

Background

Inspired by his wife, Fazilatunnesa Mujib, Mujib started writing his autobiography in his notebooks during his sojourns in jail as a state prisoner between 1967 and 1969. Later Mujib gave the notebooks to Moni to prepare a typed copy. But after the

assassination of Sheikh Mujib The first president of Bangladesh, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, and most of his family were killed during the early hours of 15 August 1975 by a group of young Bangladesh Army personnel who invaded his Dhanmondi 32 residence as part of a coup d'� ...

and Sheikh Fazlul Haq Moni, the notebooks slid in oblivion and remained so until one of his relatives discovered four notebooks in a drawer of Sheikh Moni in 2004. By then, the notebooks' pages had become discolored and brittle. The contents of the notebook were extracted by

Sheikh Hasina Sheikh Hasina Wazed (''née'' Sheikh Hasina ; ; bn, শেখ হাসিনা ওয়াজেদ, Shēkh Hasinā, , born 28 September 1947) is a Bangladeshi politician who has served as the Prime Minister of Bangladesh since January 2 ...

along with

Sheikh Rehana Sheikh Rehana Siddiq (born 13 September 1957) is a Bangladesh Awami League politician. She is the younger sister of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and the daughter of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. She is also the mother ...

and Baby Moudud. The compiled notes were published as a book on 12 June 2012 from The University Press Limited. The book was named by Rehana and prefaced by Hasina. Since it has been translated into 14 language. On 7 October 2020,

brail Brails, in a sailing ship, are small lines used to haul in or up the edges (leeches) or corners of sails, before furling.''Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary'', 1913. On a ship rig, these brails are most often found on the mizzen sail. T ...

version of the book was released.

Content

In his memoirs, Mujib portrayed vividly many aspects of his life in and out of prison. Mujib also narrated the beginning of his ancestry, birth and childhood, days in school and college, and social and political involvements. Mujib also recounted the historical events that he closely observed as a political activist before and after the

India partition The Partition of British India in 1947 was the change of political borders and the division of other assets that accompanied the dissolution of the British Raj in South Asia and the creation of two independent dominions: India and Pakistan. T ...

– famine, communal riots in

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

and Bihar, partition, politics of Kolkata-centric State Muslim Student League and

Muslim League Muslim League may refer to: Political parties Subcontinent ; British India *All-India Muslim League, Mohammed Ali Jinah, led the demand for the partition of India resulting in the creation of Pakistan. **Punjab Muslim League, a branch of the organ ...

, Pakistan central government's discriminatory attitude. It also chronicles Bengali language movement, the first stirrings of the movement for autonomy and independence, and powerfully conveys the great uncertainties as well as the great hopes that the Bengali nation had at that time. Mujib expressed his views on other prominent leaders of the time, including

Maulana Bhashani Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani (12 December 1880 – 17 November 1976), often shortened as Maulana Bhashani, was a Bengali politician. His political tenure spanned the British colonial India, Pakistan and Bangladesh periods. Maulana Bhashani was pop ...

Yar Mohammad Khan Yar Mohammad Khan (September 9, 1920 – August 29, 1981) was one of the founders of the Bangladesh Awami League. He was the founder treasurer of the Awami League. His residence at 18, Karkun Bari Lane, Dhaka was the first party office of the Ba ...

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

, Muhammad Ali Jinnah,

Liaquat Ali Khan Liaquat Ali Khan ( ur, ; 1 October 1895 – 16 October 1951), also referred to in Pakistan as ''Quaid-e-Millat'' () or ''Shaheed-e-Millat'' ( ur, lit=Martyr of the Nation, label=none, ), was a Pakistani statesman, lawyer, political theoris ...

Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy ( bn, হোসেন শহীদ সোহ্‌রাওয়ার্দী; ur, ; 8 September 18925 December 1963) was a Bengali barrister and politician. He served as the Prime Minister of Pakistan from 1956 t ...

, A.K. Fazlul Haq,

Abul Hashim Abul Hashim (25 January 1905 – 5 October 1974) was a Bangladeshi politician and Islamic thinker in the Indian Subcontinent. Early life Hashim was born in a lord family in the village of Kashiara in Purba Bardhaman district of West Bengal. He ...

Khawaja Nazimuddin Sir Khawaja Nazimuddin ( bn, খাজা নাজিমুদ্দীন; ur, ; 19 July 1894 – 22 October 1964) was a Pakistani politician and one of the leading founding fathers of Pakistan. He is noted as being the first Bengali to ha ...

, Ghulam Muhammad,

Mohammad Ali Bogra Sahibzada Syed Mohammad Ali Chowdhury ( bn, সৈয়দ মোহাম্মদ আলী চৌধুরী; Urdu: سید محمد علی چوہدری), more commonly known as Mohammad Ali Bogra ( bn, মোহাম্মদ আলী ...

, Chaudhury Muhammad Ali, and

Nurul Amin Nurul Amin ( bn, নুরুল আমিন; ur, ; 15 July 1893 – 2 October 1974) was a prominent Pakistani leader, and a jurist who served as the eighth prime minister of Pakistan and as the first and only vice president of Pakistan. H ...

. The last part portrays the events accompanying the struggle for democratic rights in 1955.

Reception

The

Hindustan Times ''Hindustan Times'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper based in Delhi. It is the flagship publication of HT Media, an entity controlled by the KK Birla family, and is owned by Shobhana Bhartia. It was founded by Sunder Singh Ly ...

expressed some dissatisfaction over its unfinished status and wished the book could have had more information on the Bangladesh Liberation War instead of ending much sooner in the 1950s. The

Prothom Alo ''The Daily Prothom Alo'' ( bn, প্রথম আলো) is a daily newspaper in Bangladesh, published from Dhaka in the Bengali language. It is the largest circulated newspaper in Bangladesh. According to National Media Survey 2018, conducte ...

wrote that shows the making of

Bangabandhu 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 Bengali politi ...

The Wire ''The Wire'' is an American crime drama television series created and primarily written by author and former police reporter David Simon. The series was broadcast by the cable network HBO in the United States. ''The Wire'' premiered on June 2 ...

wrote that it portrayed the life of early Bangladesh as it portrayed the life of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Unfinished Memoirs Books about Bangladesh 2012 non-fiction books Political autobiographies Unfinished books History books about Bangladesh Bangladeshi books Books about Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Bangladeshi non-fiction books Bangladesh Liberation War books Penguin Books India books