Shahid Saber was the pen name of the writer and journalist AKM Shahidullah. He was killed by

Pakistan Army The Pakistan Army (, ), commonly known as the Pak Army (), is the Land warfare, land service branch and the largest component of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The president of Pakistan is the Commander-in-chief, supreme commander of the army. The ...

when they burned down ''The Daily Sangbad'' office on 31 March 1971.

Early life

Saber was born in Eidgah,

Cox's Bazar District Cox's Bazar District () is a district in the Chittagong Division of Bangladesh. It is named after Cox's Bazar town. It is located south of Chittagong. Cox's Bazar is also known by the names ''Panowa'' ("yellow flower") and ''Palongkee''. T ...

Chittagong Division Chittagong Division (), officially Chattogram Division, is geographically the largest of the eight administrative divisions of Bangladesh. It covers the southeasternmost areas of the country, with a total area of and a population according to th ...

on 18 December 1930. He studied in Eidgah Primary School after which he joined

Hare School Hare School is one of the oldest schools in Kolkata, India, teaching grades one to twelve under the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education and the West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education. It is a state government-administered boys ...

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 the fourth grade. He joined Chittagong Collegiate School after the partition of India and graduated from that college in 1949. He got admitted to Chittagong College after that. As a student he was involved with various cultural organizations including Chhotader Asar and Mukul Fouj Movement. In 1950 he was arrested as part of a government crackdown on communists and passed his I.A. exam from Rajshahi Central Jail in 1951. He was released in 1954. He graduated from Jagannath College in 1955 with a B.A.

Career

Saber worked at Dhaka West End High School as an assistant teacher. He left the high school to join ''The Daily Sangbad'' as an assistant editor. He successfully completed the Federal Information Service examination but was denied a position because of his time spent in jail. In 1958 he experienced a mental breakdown and never fully recovered. He wrote a number of books including a prison memoir.

Death

Saber used to live in the office of ''The Daily Sangbad''. On 31 March 1971 the

burned down the Newspaper office killing him. At the time of his death, he was 40 years old.

References

{{reflist 1930 births 1971 deaths Academic staff of the University of Dhaka People from Cox's Bazar District