Ibraheem Rahman :
It is a shocking news. It is really a shocking news for his kith and kins, friends and admirers and a host of people who were involved with him in various ways. The news shocked all the people delineated above. It was Eid day, the day of rejoicing and ecstasy for millions of Muslims. We, the Muslims were busy with celebration of Eid-ul-Azha and engaged in sacrificial ceremony of cattle etc. just at this moment the shocking news came. Poet Al-Mujaheedy told over my mobile phone that Dr. Mizanur Rahman Shelly has breathed his last on 12th August the Eid Day. Just an hour later, Zaki Bhai, Chairman of Zaki-Mosharraf Group informed me over my mobile phone in a feeble voice, Ibraheem! Our Shelly is no more. He has expired in the BSMMU Hospital.
Former technocrat minister and brilliant bureaucrat Dr. Mizanur Rahman was a versatile genius. He died at 76.
Shelly was born on January 2, 1943 in Kushumpur village of Munshiganj District. He stood 20th in SSC. He also stood first in HSC Examination. From HSC he continued to occupy 1st Class first position in BA (Hons) and MA from Dhaka University. He stood 2nd in Central Superior Service Examination (CSS) in combined list all over the two wings of Pakistan.
A peerless self-confident along with a very brilliant academic career, Shelly was known to have declared that no candidate in all-Pakistan should expect to top the list in next CSS Examination when Shelly appeared in exam. It is also known the Recruitment Board could not make any blockade against Shelly. That means, whatever was the question, Shelly replied it properly. In the end Shelly rather said, anymore question? Recruitment Board presumably took note of this. Shelly accorded second position in all over the two wings of Pakistan. Shelly could not top the list. This episode became the ‘talk of the town’ and created storm in the University parlour in late 60s.
First he joined his own Political Science Department as lecturer. Incidentally I was a second year student in the Department of History and had the opportunity to attend his class as I had Political Science as the subsidiary subject. In his class we did not hear rather swallowed his lecture with pin-drop silence. His way of speaking, style of spelling and pronunciation fascinated his students in a spellbound atmosphere. In the 60s those who were ambitious to participate in the CSS Exam we were addicted to reading English newspapers like The Pakistan Observer, Holiday and the Concept.
Other than Observer, Holiday was popular among the students in spite of the fact that Holiday edited by Enayet Ullah Khan was full of high sounding bombastic words that needed a dictionary aside when going through. But the Concept was popular as because at the time of reading a dictionary was not a must. Concept was a magazine which was easy in reading, lucid and prolific. When you start reading a write-up in the Concept you could not stop reading without finishing the story. The Concept was edited by Mizanur Rahman Shelly, the then Jewel of the University whose write-ups were free of bombastic words at the same time lucid and prolific.
We were deprived of his eloquent lecture when he joined Pakistan Civil Service in 1967 relinquishing University job. During service tenure he acquired a Ph.D from the University of London in International Politics. But a luminary like Dr Shelly cannot limit himself within the periphery of government service. To expose himself to the free-world and to work in a greater field he resigned government service.
In the free atmosphere he dedicated himself to research and writing for the generation. He wrote columns to many Bangla and English daily newspapers.
Dr. Shelly was the founding chairman of the Centre for Development Research and editor of Asian Affairs — a periodical of international standard. He was the Chairman of a Financial Institution. He was the Advisory Editor of Weekly Sachitra Swadesh which was edited by Zakiudin Ahmed, Chairman of Zakia-Mosharraf Group. He was the Chairman of Daily Bangladesh Times Trust. He wrote books on Sociology, Politics and Social and National problems.
In 2008 he received an honorary fellowship from Bangla Academy. He was the Overseas Director of American Institute of Bangladesh Studies that was represented by CDRB. AIBS is an association of 48 universities and colleges of USA. Among the member institutions of AIBS are: Universities of Pennsylvania, Columbia, Syracuse, Chicago, Colonell, UCLA, ANM Texas, Penm State and Washington etc. The AIBS and CDRB are also Members of the Council of American Overseas Research Centre (CAORC) 1989-upto date. He was the Chief Advisor of City International University Dhaka.
He was also associated with a number of socio cultural activities which include of National Education Advisory Council in 1978, Jail Reforms Commission in 1978-80, Bangladesh Film Censor Board in 1985-86, National Disaster Prevention Council in 1988-90, National Population Council of Bangladesh in 1989-90, and The Fourth Wage Board for Newspaper Employees in 1989-90 and so on. In recognition of his meritorious and intellectual contribution Dr. Shelly was awarded the highest Polish Order of Merit by Nobel Laureate Lech Walesa of Poland in 1991. He was given Michael Madhu Shudan Dutta Award for his contribution in Literary Field in 1999. Sufia Rahman his beloved wife died in 2016. Shelly- Sufia couple has two sons — Arif Ibn Mizan and Tahmid Ibn Mizan. The younger son Tahmid is a citizen of USA. In his demise the country lost a great soul of versatile genius.
It is a shocking news. It is really a shocking news for his kith and kins, friends and admirers and a host of people who were involved with him in various ways. The news shocked all the people delineated above. It was Eid day, the day of rejoicing and ecstasy for millions of Muslims. We, the Muslims were busy with celebration of Eid-ul-Azha and engaged in sacrificial ceremony of cattle etc. just at this moment the shocking news came. Poet Al-Mujaheedy told over my mobile phone that Dr. Mizanur Rahman Shelly has breathed his last on 12th August the Eid Day. Just an hour later, Zaki Bhai, Chairman of Zaki-Mosharraf Group informed me over my mobile phone in a feeble voice, Ibraheem! Our Shelly is no more. He has expired in the BSMMU Hospital.
Former technocrat minister and brilliant bureaucrat Dr. Mizanur Rahman was a versatile genius. He died at 76.
Shelly was born on January 2, 1943 in Kushumpur village of Munshiganj District. He stood 20th in SSC. He also stood first in HSC Examination. From HSC he continued to occupy 1st Class first position in BA (Hons) and MA from Dhaka University. He stood 2nd in Central Superior Service Examination (CSS) in combined list all over the two wings of Pakistan.
A peerless self-confident along with a very brilliant academic career, Shelly was known to have declared that no candidate in all-Pakistan should expect to top the list in next CSS Examination when Shelly appeared in exam. It is also known the Recruitment Board could not make any blockade against Shelly. That means, whatever was the question, Shelly replied it properly. In the end Shelly rather said, anymore question? Recruitment Board presumably took note of this. Shelly accorded second position in all over the two wings of Pakistan. Shelly could not top the list. This episode became the ‘talk of the town’ and created storm in the University parlour in late 60s.
First he joined his own Political Science Department as lecturer. Incidentally I was a second year student in the Department of History and had the opportunity to attend his class as I had Political Science as the subsidiary subject. In his class we did not hear rather swallowed his lecture with pin-drop silence. His way of speaking, style of spelling and pronunciation fascinated his students in a spellbound atmosphere. In the 60s those who were ambitious to participate in the CSS Exam we were addicted to reading English newspapers like The Pakistan Observer, Holiday and the Concept.
Other than Observer, Holiday was popular among the students in spite of the fact that Holiday edited by Enayet Ullah Khan was full of high sounding bombastic words that needed a dictionary aside when going through. But the Concept was popular as because at the time of reading a dictionary was not a must. Concept was a magazine which was easy in reading, lucid and prolific. When you start reading a write-up in the Concept you could not stop reading without finishing the story. The Concept was edited by Mizanur Rahman Shelly, the then Jewel of the University whose write-ups were free of bombastic words at the same time lucid and prolific.
We were deprived of his eloquent lecture when he joined Pakistan Civil Service in 1967 relinquishing University job. During service tenure he acquired a Ph.D from the University of London in International Politics. But a luminary like Dr Shelly cannot limit himself within the periphery of government service. To expose himself to the free-world and to work in a greater field he resigned government service.
In the free atmosphere he dedicated himself to research and writing for the generation. He wrote columns to many Bangla and English daily newspapers.
Dr. Shelly was the founding chairman of the Centre for Development Research and editor of Asian Affairs — a periodical of international standard. He was the Chairman of a Financial Institution. He was the Advisory Editor of Weekly Sachitra Swadesh which was edited by Zakiudin Ahmed, Chairman of Zakia-Mosharraf Group. He was the Chairman of Daily Bangladesh Times Trust. He wrote books on Sociology, Politics and Social and National problems.
In 2008 he received an honorary fellowship from Bangla Academy. He was the Overseas Director of American Institute of Bangladesh Studies that was represented by CDRB. AIBS is an association of 48 universities and colleges of USA. Among the member institutions of AIBS are: Universities of Pennsylvania, Columbia, Syracuse, Chicago, Colonell, UCLA, ANM Texas, Penm State and Washington etc. The AIBS and CDRB are also Members of the Council of American Overseas Research Centre (CAORC) 1989-upto date. He was the Chief Advisor of City International University Dhaka.
He was also associated with a number of socio cultural activities which include of National Education Advisory Council in 1978, Jail Reforms Commission in 1978-80, Bangladesh Film Censor Board in 1985-86, National Disaster Prevention Council in 1988-90, National Population Council of Bangladesh in 1989-90, and The Fourth Wage Board for Newspaper Employees in 1989-90 and so on. In recognition of his meritorious and intellectual contribution Dr. Shelly was awarded the highest Polish Order of Merit by Nobel Laureate Lech Walesa of Poland in 1991. He was given Michael Madhu Shudan Dutta Award for his contribution in Literary Field in 1999. Sufia Rahman his beloved wife died in 2016. Shelly- Sufia couple has two sons — Arif Ibn Mizan and Tahmid Ibn Mizan. The younger son Tahmid is a citizen of USA. In his demise the country lost a great soul of versatile genius.
(Ibraheem Rahman, journalist and columnist; email: [email protected])
