Govinda Chandra Dev
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Govinda Chandra Dev (1 February 1907 – 25 March 1971), known as Dr. G. C. Dev, was a professor of philosophy 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 assassinated at the onset of
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 by the
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 ...
.


Early life and education

Dev was born in the village of Lauta of the Panchakhanda Pargana (currently
Beanibazar Upazila Beanibazar ( bn, বিয়ানীবাজার, Biyanībazar, Morning Market) is an upazila (sub-district) of Sylhet District in northeastern Bangladesh, part of the Sylhet Division. The area is the successor of the territory of Panchakhand ...
) of
Sylhet District Sylhet ( bn, সিলেট), located in north-east Bangladesh, is the divisional capital and one of the four districts in the Sylhet Division. History Sylhet district was established on 3 January 1782, and until 1878 it was part of Bengal Pro ...
,
East Bengal ur, , common_name = East Bengal , status = Province of the Dominion of Pakistan , p1 = Bengal Presidency , flag_p1 = Flag of British Bengal.svg , s1 = East ...
(now Bangladesh) on 1 February 1907. His ancestors were high-caste Brahmins who settled in Sylhet from
Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...
. After his father's death at an early age, Dev was raised by the local Christian missionaries. Dev passed the Entrance Examination in first division from Biani Bazar High English School in 1925. In 1927, he passed the Intermediate Examination from Ripon College,
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 ...
. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree with honors from
Sanskrit College The Sanskrit College and University (erstwhile Sanskrit College) is a state university located in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. It focuses on liberal arts, offering both UG and PG degrees in Ancient Indian and world history, Bengali, English, Sa ...
in 1929. In 1931, he received his Master of Arts in philosophy from the
University of Calcutta The University of Calcutta (informally known as Calcutta University; CU) is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate State university (India), state university in India, located in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Considered ...
. He graduated
summa cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sou ...
in both Bachelors and Masters. His Doctoral thesis was titled ''Reason, intuition and reality'', and for this, he received a PhD degree from Calcutta University in 1944. The thesis dissertation was later published as a book titled ''Idealism and Progress''.


Life and career

Dev started his career as a lecturer in Ripon College in Kolkata. As the college was transferred from Calcutta to
Dinajpur Dinajpur ( bn, দিনাজপুর ) is a city and the District headquarters of Dinajpur district situated in Rangpur Division, Bangladesh. It was founded in 1786. It is located 413 km north-west of Dhaka in Bangladesh. It is bound ...
(now in Bangladesh) during
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, he moved as well. In 1945, the college re-located to Kolkata, but Dev decided to stay back in Dinajpur as the founding principal of the new branch of Surendranath College (now
Dinajpur Government College Dinajpur Government College ( bn, দিনাজপুর গভঃ কলেজ) is a government college located in Dinajpur. History Dinajpur Government College, located in Dinajpur, is one of Bangladesh's earliest higher educational institut ...
). Later, in July 1953, he joined the Department of Philosophy at
Dhaka University 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 also served as the house tutor of Dhaka hall (present
Shahidullah Hall Dr. Muhammad Shahidullah Hall is one of the three founding residential halls of the University of Dhaka. Established in 1921 as Lyton Hall it was subsequently renamed Dhaka Hall and renamed again for the famous linguist Dr. Muhammad Shahidullah fo ...
) in 1957 before being appointed as the provost of
Jagannath Hall Jagannath Hall of Dhaka University is a residence hall for minority students, Hindu, Buddhist, Christian, and others. It is one of the three original residence halls that date from when the University was founded in 1921, and like them is modelled ...
in the same year. Dev was appointed as the chairman of the department of philosophy in 1963. On 1 July 1967, Dev became a full professor. In the late 1960s he taught in Wilkes-Barre College in
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
, USA as a visiting professor. His admirers in the college founded ''The Govinda Dev Foundation for World Brotherhood'' for the propagation of Dev's humanist philosophy. Dev was elected the general secretary of Pakistan Philosophical Congress in the 1960s and held the post till his death in 1971. He also set up a ''Philosophy House'' in Dhaka University to promote and practice his life-oriented and humanist philosophy, which became a center for intellectual and cultural activities in the university. Dev donated the bulk of his belongings to the university in his lifetime. The donation facilitated the establishment of ''Center for Philosophical Studies (DCPS)'' at Dhaka University in 1980. Dev was a life-long bachelor, although he adopted a son Jyoti Prakash Dutta and a daughter, Rokeya Begum Sultana.


Assassination

Dev was assassinated along with the husband of his adopted daughter 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 ...
personnel involved in 1971 Dhaka University massacre on the black night of 25 March. At that time, Dev was residing in a university quarter near Jagannath Hall with his adopted daughter Rokeya Sultana and her husband Mohammad Ali. At around 11 p.m., the residents of the house were awakened by the sound of gunfire as the army raided the campus. As Rokeya remarked later, bullets were hitting the house like a hailstorm. The family took shelter in a small room and kept awake the whole night. In the morning of 26 a group of soldiers came to the door. They started banging on the door as they shouted in
Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''


Bibliography

Dev wrote over a hundred articles in English and Bangla in national and international journals. He also published seven books in his lifetime – * ''Idealism and Progress'' (1952) * ''Idealism: A New Defence and A New Application'' (1958) * ''Amar Jibandarshan (The Philosophy of My Life)'' (1960) * ''Aspiration of the Common Man'' (1963) * ''The Philosophy of Vivekananda and the Future of Man'' (1963) * ''Tattvavidya-sara'' (1966) * ''Buddha: the Humanist'' (1969). Two other books ''Parables of the East'' (1984) and ''My American Experience'' (1993) were published posthumously.


See also

*
1971 Dhaka University massacre *
1971 Bangladesh genocide The genocide in Bangladesh began on 25 March 1971 with the launch of Operation Searchlight, as the government of Pakistan, dominated by West Pakistan, began a military crackdown on East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) to suppress Bengali peopl ...


References


Further reading

* Bangalir Dorshan: Prachinkal Theke Somokal by Prof. Dr. Aminul Islam, Dept. of Philosophy, DU, (Maola Brothers, Dhaka, 2002), pp. 247–258


External links


My Philosophy of Synthesis: Factors that Moulded It
by G. C. Dev

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dev, Govinda 1907 births 1971 deaths People from Beanibazar Upazila Bangladeshi Hindus Bangladeshi philosophers Surendranath College alumni The Sanskrit College and University alumni University of Calcutta alumni University of Calcutta faculty University of Dhaka faculty People killed in the Bangladesh Liberation War Assassinated educators Recipients of the Independence Day Award Recipients of the Ekushey Padak 20th-century philosophers