Shahidullah Kaiser
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Shahidullah Kaiser (Bengali: শহীদুল্লাহ কায়সার) (1927-1971) was a Bangladeshi novelist and writer. He was born on 16 February 1927 in the Mazupur village in what is now the Feni District, Bangladesh.
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[edit] Early life and education
Shahidullah Kaiser was born Nayeem Mohammad Shahidullah. He studied at Presidency College, Kolkata and obtained a Bachelors degree in economics with honours. Later, he enrolled in Masters of Arts at Calcutta University but did not finish getting the degree.
Kaiser was active in politics and cultural movements from his student days. Following the formation of Pakistan in 1947, he became a member of the provincial Communist Party of East Pakistan. He started working as a journalist in 1949 with the Ittefaq in Dhaka. In 1952, he participated actively in the Language Movement. For his political role in the movement for protection of Bengali language, 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 Daily Sangbad - a Bengali language daily - where he worked for the rest of his life. When the Military coup of 1958 put Ayub Khan in power, and martial law was proclaimed, Kaiser was arrested again on 14 October 1958 and remained in jail for four years till his release in September 1962.
[edit] Literary works
- Sareng Bau (The Captain's Wife, 1962)
- Sangshaptak (The Indomitable Soldiers, 1965)
- Krishnachura Megh (Krishnachura 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)
- Rajbandir Rojnamacha (The Diary of a Political Prisoner, 1962)
- Peshwar Theke Tashkhand (From Peshwar to Tashkent, 1966)
[edit] Awards
- Adamjee Literary Award, 1962
- Bangla Academy Award, 1962
[edit] Death
At the end the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971, the Pakistan Army and its local collaborators initiated a plan for killing the leading Bengali intellectuals. As a part of it, Kaisar was rounded up on 14 December 1971. He never returned, nor was his body found. It is assumed that he was executed along with other intellectuals. His brother, Zahir Raihan, a notable film-maker, also disappeared while searching for Kaisar.
