Abu Bashar Mohammad Ishaque (; 1 November 1926 – 16 February 2003) was a Bangladeshi novelist. He graduated B.A. from Karachi University. He was the Deputy Director of NSI.

Early life

Ishaque was born in the village of Shirangal in Naria,

Faridpur District Faridpur District () is a district in south-central Bangladesh. It is a part of Dhaka Division. It is bounded by the Padma River to the northeast. The district was named for its headquarters, the city of Faridpur, Bangladesh, Faridpur, which its ...

(now in

Shariatpur District Shariatpur District () is a district in Dhaka Division of central Bangladesh. Shariatpur is named after the Islamic revivalist, Haji Shariatullah. Etymology Shariatpur was named after Haji Shariatullah (1781–1840), who was the founder of Faraiz ...

) on 1 November 1926. He studied at the Upsi Bijari Taraprasanna English High School, from which he passed his matriculation exam with scholarship in 1942. In 1944, he completed his IA from Government Rajendra College in Faridpur.

Career

His first story, "Abhishap", was published in 1940 in the ''

Nabajug ''Nabajug'' () was a Bengali-language daily newspaper published from 1920 to 1944. History The newspaper was founded in Kolkata on 12 July 1920 by A. K. Fazlul Huq. The first editors were Kazi Nazrul Islam Kazi Nazrul Islam (24 May 1899 ...

'' magazine, which was edited by the activist

Kazi Nazrul Islam Kazi Nazrul Islam (24 May 1899 – 29 August 1976) was a Bengalis, Bengali poet, short story writer, journalist, lyricist and musician. He is the national poet of Bangladesh. Nazrul produced a List of works by Kazi Nazrul Islam, large body of ...

. This was when Abu Ishaque was still in high school. The story was later featured in the Saogat and

The Azad ''The Azad'' () was a Bengali-language daily newspaper published from 1936 to 1990s. ''The Azad'' became Dhaka's first daily newspaper. The newspaper while based in Dhaka played an important role during the Bengali Language Movement for its adv ...

magazines of

Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...

. His first job was as an inspector for a private institution. Ishaque's first big literary effort, ''Sūrja-Dīghal Baṛī'', was completed in August 1948, though waited some seven years for a publisher. It was based on four main historical themes;

World War A world war is an international War, conflict that involves most or all of the world's major powers. Conventionally, the term is reserved for two major international conflicts that occurred during the first half of the 20th century, World War I ...

famine A famine is a widespread scarcity of food caused by several possible factors, including, but not limited to war, natural disasters, crop failure, widespread poverty, an Financial crisis, economic catastrophe or government policies. This phenom ...

, communal riots and division. After the Partition of India in 1947, he became an assistant inspector for the Pakistan police department and was based in the cities of

Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

Rawalpindi Rawalpindi is the List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, third-largest city in the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is a commercial and industrial hub, being the list of cities in P ...

and

Islamabad Islamabad (; , ; ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's tenth-most populous city with a population of over 1.1 million and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital Territory. Bu ...

up until 1956. Graduating from

Karachi University The University of Karachi (; informally Karachi University, KU, or UoK) is a public research university located in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. Established in June 1951 by an act of Parliament and as a successor to the University of Sindh (which is ...

in 1960, he served in many important posts in the country as well as in diplomatic positions in the high commission offices. In 1973, Ishaque became a sub-director for the

National Security Intelligence The National Security Intelligence, commonly known as the NSI, is the principal civilian intelligence agency of Bangladesh. The NSI is the leading body of the Government of Bangladesh in the fields of internal security, counter terrorism, coun ...

based in

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; , ), List of renamed places in Bangladesh, formerly known as Dacca, is the capital city, capital and list of cities and towns in Bangladesh, largest city of Bangladesh. It is one of the list of largest cities, largest and list o ...

. He served as vice-consul at the Bangladeshi embassy in

Akyab Sittwe (, ), formerly Akyab (), is the capital of Rakhine State, Myanmar (Burma). Sittwe is located on an estuarial island created at the confluence of the Kaladan, Mayu, and Lay Mro rivers emptying into the Bay of Bengal. As of 2019 the cit ...

Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...

in 1974. Ishaque became the first secretary for the Bangladesh Deputy High Commission at

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

in 1976. In 1979, he started serving as the Chief of the National Security Intelligence's Khulna Branch. He retired from the government service in 1984.

Works

Three novels - one of which is a detective novel, two collections of short stories and the voluminous Samokalin Bangla Bhashar Obhidhan (first two parts of it have already been published from the Bangla Academy and the rest ow many?are being prepared).

Novels

*''Surja-Dighal Bari'' (1955) *''Padmar Palidwip'' (1986) *''Jaal'' (1988)

Short stories

*"Jook" *"MahaPatanga" (Large Insect) *"Haarem"

Awards

Bangla Academy Literary Award The Bangla Academy Literary Award (; ''Bangla Academy Shahitya Puroshkar'') is given by the Bangla Academy of Bangladesh in recognition of creative genius in advancement and overall contribution in the field of Bengali language and literature. ...

(1963) *

Ekushey Padak Ekushey Padak () is the second highest civilian award in Bangladesh, introduced in memory of martyrs of the Bengali language movement of 1952. The award is given to recognize contributions in a number of fields, including culture, education, and e ...

(1997) *

Independence Day Award The Independence Award (), formally known as the Independence Day Award or Swadhinata Padak (), is the highest state award given by the government of Bangladesh. Introduced in 1977 by President Ziaur Rahman, this award is bestowed upon Banglade ...

(2004) Posthumously

References

1926 births 2003 deaths Bangladeshi male writers Bengali-language novelists Recipients of the Independence Award Recipients of the Ekushey Padak Recipients of Bangla Academy Award Bangladeshi male novelists People from Naria Upazila 20th-century Bengalis 20th-century Muslims Bangladeshi Sunni Muslims Bengali Muslims University of Karachi alumni {{Bangladesh-writer-stub