Sayeda Banu :
Abul Fazal (1903-1983) educationist and writer, was born on 1 July 1903 in the village of Keochia in the Satkania upazila of Chittagong district. His father, Moulvi Fazlur Rahman, was an Imam of Chittagong Jame masjid. After initial schooling at a madrasah, Abul Fazal completed the BA from Dhaka university in 1928. In 1931, he did his BT from Teachers’ Training College in Dhaka. He completed a Master’s degree in Bangla Language and literature from Calcutta university in 1940. Abul Fazal initially began his career as an Imam before starting to teach. In 1941 he joined Krishnanagar College as a lecturer of Bangla. In1943 he was transferred to Chittagong college from where he retired as a professor in 1956. In 1973 he was made Vice-Chancellor of Chittagong University. In 1975 he joined the Advisory Council of the Government of Bangladesh as Member in charge of Education and Culture, but resigned on 23 June 1977.
Abul Fazal was associated with the founding of the Muslim Sahitya Samaj (1926), Dhaka, and became its Secretary in 1930. The Samaj was liberal in outlook, and its purpose was to liberate people from social and religious prejudices. The progressive outlook of this movement is reflected in Abul Fazal’s writings.
Abul Fazal was a fearless and socially committed writer, whose works reflect patriotism, secularism, and humanism. He was known as ‘the Nation’s conscience’ for his bold stand at moments of national crises.
In 1967, he strongly protested when the Pakistan government banned Tagore songs from Radio and Television programmes.
Abul Fazal wrote in a variety of genres : novels, short stories, plays, memoirs, travels etc. He also wrote about religion. Some of his writings include Chauchir (1934), Pradip O Patanga (1940), Matir Prithibi (1940), Bichitra Kotha (1940), Ranga Probhat (1957), Rekhachitra (1966) and Durdiner Dinlipi (1972).
His contribution to bangla literature earned him the Bangla Academy Prize (1962), the President’s Award for Literature (1963), the Adamjee Literary Award (1966), the Nasiruddin Gold Medal (1980), the Muktadhara Literary Award (1981) and the Abdul Hai Literary Award (1982). In 1974, the University of Dhaka conferred an honorary Doctorate on him.
He died on 4 May 1983 in Chittagong.
