Samudra Gupta (born Abdul Mannan; June 23, 1946 – July 19, 2008) was a Bangladeshi poet and journalist. Gupta was a strong critic of both communalism and

Islamic fundamentalism Islamic fundamentalism has been defined as a revivalist and reform movement of Muslims who aim to return to the founding scriptures of Islam. The term has been used interchangeably with similar terms such as Islamism, Islamic revivalism, Qut ...

, and expressed his opposition to these ideologies within his writings.

Early life

Gupta was born Abdul Mannan on June 23, 1946, in Hashil village in Sirajganj sub-division. He was the fifth of Mohsin Ali and Rehana Ali's seven sons and one daughter. He completed his secondary education at Dhunat High School in Bogra in 1962, and higher secondary at Salimullah College in Dhaka in 1964.

Career

Mannan adopted the pseudonym of Samudra Gupta during the 1960s and was recognized by his pen name during his life and career. He took part in the start of the uprising against Pakistan beginning in 1969 and fought in the

Bangladesh Liberation War The Bangladesh Liberation War (, ), also known as the Bangladesh War of Independence, was an War, armed conflict sparked by the rise of the Bengali nationalism, Bengali nationalist and self-determination movement in East Pakistan, which res ...

. Gupta was originally a journalist by profession. He worked as different daily and weekly newspapers throughout Bangladesh. He also served as the general secretary of the Bangladesh National Poetry Council. He was an advisor of Bengali Language learning programme. Gupta's first book of poetry, ''Rode Jholshano Mukh'', was published in 1977. He wrote thirteen books of poetry during his career, as well as one work of fiction and an additional book of poetry as a collaboration with another writer. He also released many articles and short stories and served as the editor of several books. Gupta's most notable writings include ''Rode Jholshano Mukh'', ''Swapnamongol Kabyo'', ''Ekhono Utthan Achhey'', ''Chokhey Chokh Rekhey'', ''Ekaki Roudrer Dike'' and ''Shekorer Shokey''. His writings have been translated from

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

into Chinese, French, Sinhalese, English,

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

, Japanese,

Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

, Norwegian and Nepali.

Personal life

Gupta was married to Happy Samudra. They had two daughters, Neel Samudra and Swapno Samudra.

Death and legacy

Gupta died of

gallbladder cancer Gallbladder cancer is a relatively uncommon cancer, with an incidence of fewer than 2 cases per 100,000 people per year in the United States. It is particularly common in central and South America, central and eastern Europe, Japan and northern Ind ...

on July 19, 2008, at the Narayana Hridayalaya Hospital in

Bangalore Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

, India. Jatiya Kabita Parishad had organized fund raisers for his treatment. He had been hospitalized in India for treatment since July 3, 2008. He was buried at

Martyred Intellectuals Memorial Martyred Intellectuals Memorial () is a monument built in memory of the 1971 killing of Bengali intellectuals, martyred intellectuals of the Bangladesh Liberation War. The memorial is located at Rayerbazar, Mohammadpur Thana in Dhaka. The memori ...

. The 2009 National Poetry Festival was dedicated to him.

Awards

* Lekhak Shibir (1977) * Jessore Literature Award (1990) * Poet Vishnu Dey Award (1995) * Humayun Kabir Award * Language Day Honour by the government of

Tripura Tripura () is a States and union territories of India, state in northeastern India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, third-smallest state in the country, it covers ; and the seventh-least populous state with a populat ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gupta, Samudra 1946 births 2008 deaths 20th-century Bangladeshi poets Bangladeshi short story writers Bangladeshi activists People of the Bangladesh Liberation War Deaths from cancer in India Deaths from gallbladder cancer Bangladeshi male poets Burials at Mirpur Martyred Intellectual Graveyard 20th-century Bangladeshi male writers 20th-century Bangladeshi journalists Mukti Bahini personnel