Shahidullah Kaiser (16 February 1927 – disappeared 14 December 1971) was a

Bangladeshi Bangladeshis ( bn, বাংলাদেশী ) are the citizens of Bangladesh, a South Asian country centered on the transnational historical region of Bengal along the eponymous bay. Bangladeshi citizenship was formed in 1971, when the ...

novelist and writer. He was awarded

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 1969,

Ekushey Padak Ekushey Padak ( bn, একুশে পদক; lit. "Twentyfirst Award") is the second highest civilian award in Bangladesh, introduced in memory of the martyrs of the Bengali Language Movement of 1952. The award is given to recognize contribut ...

in 1983 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 1998.

Early life and education

Kaiser was born in the Mazupur village (in present-day

Feni District Feni is a district located in southeastern Bangladesh. It was a part of the Greater Noakhali, Comilla, Chittagong and Tripura. , the district's estimated population stood at 1,437,371, making it the ninth-most populous district in Chittagong Divis ...

) as Abu Nayeem Mohammad Shahidullah. He studied at secondary education from Amirabad BC Laha High School, sonagazi, Feni, He also studies

Presidency College, Kolkata Presidency University, Kolkata (formerly known as Presidency College, Kolkata) is a second major public state aided research university located in College Street, Kolkata. Considered as one of best colleges when Presidency College was affili ...

and obtained a bachelor's degree in economics with honours. Later, he enrolled in master's of arts at

Calcutta University The University of Calcutta (informally known as Calcutta University; CU) is a public collegiate state university in India, located in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Considered one of best state research university all over India every year, C ...

but did not complete the degree.

Family

Kaiser's wife,

Panna Kaiser Panna Kaiser (born 25 May 1950) is a Bangladesh Awami League politician and a former member of Jatiya Sangsad selected for the women's reserved seats during 1996–2001. She was awarded 2021 Bangla Academy Literary Award in the research on liber ...

, is an author and novelist. She served as a member of the parliament for the

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 ...

government from 1996 to 2001. Kaiser's daughter,

Shomi Kaiser Shomi Kaiser (born 15 January) is a Bangladeshi actress and producer. As of 2020, she is serving as the managing director of Dhansiri Communications Ltd, an advertising and event management company. Early life and family Kaiser was born to S ...

, is a television actress. His son, Amitav Kaiser, is a banker.

Politics and journalism

Kaiser was active in politics and cultural movements from his student days. Following the formation of

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

in 1947, he joined the provincial Communist Party of

East Pakistan East Pakistan was a Pakistani province established in 1955 by the One Unit Scheme, One Unit Policy, renaming the province as such from East Bengal, which, in modern times, is split between India and Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India ...

. He started working as a journalist in 1949 with the '' Ittefaq'' in

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city ...

. In 1952, he participated actively in the Language Movement. For his political role in the movement for protection of

Bengali language Bengali ( ), generally known by its endonym Bangla (, ), is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language native to the Bengal region of South Asia. It is the official, national, and most widely spoken language of Bangladesh and the second m ...

, Kaiser was arrested on 3 June 1952. He was later jailed for three and a half years. Right after his release in 1955, he was again arrested and jailed on a political crackdown on activists. A few years later he was released. In 1958, Kaiser joined as an associate editor of ''

The Sangbad ''The Sangbad'' ( bn, সংবাদ) is a Bengali-language daily newspaper, founded in 1951 and published from Dhaka, Bangladesh. It is the oldest newspaper in Bangladesh. History The Sangbad was founded in 1951 and published from Dhaka, B ...

'' – a

daily – where he worked for the rest of his life. When the military coup of 1958 put

Ayub Khan Ayub Khan is a compound masculine name; Ayub is the Arabic version of the name of the Biblical figure Job, while Khan or Khaan is taken from the title used first by the Mongol rulers and then, in particular, their Islamic and Persian-influenced s ...

in power, and

martial law Martial law is the imposition of direct military control of normal civil functions or suspension of civil law by a government, especially in response to an emergency where civil forces are overwhelmed, or in an occupied territory. Use Marti ...

was proclaimed, Kaiser was arrested again on 14 October 1958 and remained in jail for four years till his release in September 1962.

Disappearance

Kaiser collected medicine and food and delivered those to the posts such as one being

Sufia Kamal Begum Sufia Kamal (20 June 1911 – 20 November 1999) was a Bangladeshi poet, feminist leader, and political activist. She took part in the Bengali nationalist movement of the 1950s and civil society leader in independent Bangladesh. She led fe ...

's house, from where the freedom fighters picked those up for their training outpost. At the end 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, 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 ...

and its local collaborators initiated a plan for killing the leading Bengali intellectuals. As a part of it, Kaiser was rounded up on 14 December 1971. He never returned, nor was his body ever found. It is assumed that he was executed along with other intellectuals. His brother,

Zahir Raihan Mohammad Zahirullah (19 August 1935 – disappeared 30 January 1972), known as Zahir Raihan, was a Bangladeshi novelist, writer and filmmaker. He is most notable for his documentary ''Stop Genocide'' (1971), made during the Bangladesh Liberation ...

, a notable film-maker, also disappeared while searching for Kaiser. In early December 1971, Kaiser cautioned

to leave Dhaka, but he himself did not leave and got caught in the hand of the Pakistani Army. On 3 November 2013,

Chowdhury Mueen-Uddin Chowdhury Mueen-Uddin ( bn, চৌধুরী মঈনুদ্দীন; born 27 November 1948), is a war criminal convicted for the killing of Bengali intellectuals in collaboration with the Pakistan Army during the Bangladesh Liberati ...

, a Muslim leader based in London, and

Ashrafuz Zaman Khan Ashrafuz Zaman Khan ( bn, আশরাফুজ্জামান খান, ur, ; born February 28, 1948) is one of the convicted masterminds of 1971 killing of Bengali intellectuals. In 1971, he was a member of the Central Committee of the I ...

, based in the United States, were sentenced in absentia after the court found that they were involved in the abduction and murders of 18 people – nine Dhaka University teachers, six journalists including Kaiser and three physicians – in December 1971.

denied the charges in an interview aired by

Al Jazeera Al Jazeera ( ar, الجزيرة, translit-std=DIN, translit=al-jazīrah, , "The Island") is a state-owned Arabic-language international radio and TV broadcaster of Qatar. It is based in Doha and operated by the media conglomerate Al Jazeera ...

in August 2013.

Bibliography

* ''Sareng Bau'' (''The Captain's Wife'', 1962) * ''Rajbandir Rojnamacha'' (''The Diary of a Political Prisoner'', 1962) * ''Sangshaptak'' (''The Indomitable Soldiers'', 1965) * ''Peshwar Theke Tashkhand'' (''From Peshwar to Tashkent'', 1966) * ''Krishnachura Megh'' (''Delonix regia Clouds'') * ''Timir Balay'' (''The Circle of Darkness'') * ''Digante Phuler Agun'' (''The Flaming Horizon'') * ''Samudra O Trsna'' (''Sea and Thirst'') * ''Chandrabhaner Kanya'' (''Chandrabhan's Daughter'') * ''Kabe Pohabe Bibhabari'' (''When Will It Dawn?'') (unfinished)

Filmography

;TV Series * ''

Songsoptok ''Songsoptok'' (''Shôngshôptôk'') is a drama serial which aired on Bangladesh Television. It was first filmed in the year 1971, but filming was stopped after just four episodes as the liberation war started in March. After many years, filming r ...

'' (''The Indomitable Soldiers'', 1971)

Awards

Adamjee Literary Award Adamjee Literary Award, also known as Adamjee Prize, is a literary award bestowed by the government of Pakistan. It is presented by the president. The award seeks to recognize those people who have made "meritorious contribution" to the literature ...

, 1962 *

, 1969 *

, 1983 *

, 1998

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaiser, Shahidullah 1927 births 1970s missing person cases 20th-century Bangladeshi male writers 20th-century novelists Bangladeshi male novelists Bengali novelists Missing people Missing person cases in Bangladesh People from Feni District People killed in the Bangladesh Liberation War Presidency University, Kolkata alumni Recipients of Bangla Academy Award Recipients of the Adamjee Literary Award Recipients of the Ekushey Padak Recipients of the Independence Day Award Surendranath Law College alumni University of Calcutta alumni