Shahidullah Kaiser (16 February 1927 – disappeared 14 December 1971) was a

Bangladeshi Bangladeshis ( ) are the citizens and nationals of Bangladesh, a South Asian country centred on the transnational historical region of Bengal along the Bay of Bengal, eponymous bay. Bangladeshi nationality law, Bangladeshi citizenship was fo ...

novelist and writer. He was awarded

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. ...

in 1969,

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 ...

in 1983, and the

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 ...

in 1998.

Personal life

Abu Nayeem Mohammad Shahidullah was born on 16 February 1927 to a Bengali

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

family in the village of Majupur in

Sonagazi Sonagazi () is an upazila (sub-district) of Feni District in Chittagong Division, Bangladesh, located on the coast of the Bay of Bengal. At the 2022 census, its population was 290,000, making it the second most populous upazila in Feni District. ...

, Feni subdivision, then part of the

Noakhali district Noakhali District (), historically known as Bhulua (), is a Districts of Bangladesh, district in southeastern Bangladesh, located in Chattogram Division. It was established as a district in 1821, and officially named Noakhali in 1868. The distr ...

of the

Bengal Presidency The Bengal Presidency, officially the Presidency of Fort William in Bengal until 1937, later the Bengal Province, was the largest of all three presidencies of British India during Company rule in India, Company rule and later a Provinces o ...

. His father, Mawlana Mohammad Habibullah, was a professor at the Calcutta Alia Madrasa and later the Dacca Alia Madrasa. Kaiser studied at Amirabad BC Laha High School in Sonagazi. He also studied at the Presidency College Calcutta and obtained a bachelor's degree in economics with honours. Later, he enrolled in a Master of Arts program at the

University of Calcutta The University of Calcutta, informally known as Calcutta University (), is a Public university, public State university (India), state university located in Kolkata, Calcutta (Kolkata), West Bengal, India. It has 151 affiliated undergraduate c ...

but did not completed the degree. At some point, he adopted the name Shahidullah Kaiser. His wife, Panna, was an author and novelist. She served as a member of the parliament for the

Awami League The Awami League, officially known as Bangladesh Awami League, is a major List of political parties in Bangladesh, political party in Bangladesh. The oldest existing political party in the country, the party played the leading role in achievin ...

government from 1996 to 2001. Kaiser's daughter, Shomi Kaiser, is a television actress. His son, Amitav Kaiser, is a banker.

Politics and journalism

Kaiser was active in politics and cultural movements from his student days. Following the formation of

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

in 1947, he joined the provincial Communist Party of

East Pakistan East Pakistan was the eastern province of Pakistan between 1955 and 1971, restructured and renamed from the province of East Bengal and covering the territory of the modern country of Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India and Burma, wit ...

. He started working as a journalist in 1949 with the '' Ittefaq'' 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 ...

. In 1952, he participated actively in the Language Movement. For his political role in the movement for protection of

Bengali language Bengali, also known by its endonym and exonym, endonym Bangla (, , ), is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language belonging to the Indo-Iranian languages, Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family. ...

, Kaiser was arrested on 3 June 1952. He was later jailed for three and a half years. Following 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 Sangbad'' – a

daily – where he worked for the rest of his life. When the military coup of 1958 put Ayub Khan in power, and

martial law Martial law is the replacement of civilian government by military rule and the suspension of civilian legal processes for military powers. Martial law can continue for a specified amount of time, or indefinitely, and standard civil liberties ...

was proclaimed, Kaiser was arrested again on 14 October 1958 and remained in jail for four years till his release in September 1962.

Disappearance

Kaiser collected medicine and food and delivered those to the posts, such as one being Sufia Kamal's house, from where the freedom fighters picked those up for their training outpost. At the end of 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 ...

of 1971, the

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 ...

and its local collaborators initiated a plan for killing the leading Bengali intellectuals and blaming it on the

to incite rebellion. As part of it, Kaiser was rounded up on 14 December 1971. He never returned, nor was his body ever found. It is assumed that he was executed along with other intellectuals. His brother, Zahir Raihan, a notable filmmaker, also disappeared while searching for Kaiser. In early December 1971, Kaiser cautioned Sufia Kamal to leave Dhaka, but he himself did not leave and was caught by the Pakistani Army. On 3 November 2013, Chowdhury Mueen-Uddin, a Muslim leader based in London, and Ashrafuz Zaman Khan, based in the United States, were sentenced in absentia after the court found that they were involved in the abduction and murders of 18 people – nine Dhaka University teachers, six journalists, including Kaiser and three physicians – in December 1971. Chowdhury Mueen-Uddin denied the charges in an interview aired by

Al Jazeera Al Jazeera Media Network (AJMN; , ) is a private-media conglomerate headquartered in Wadi Al Sail, Doha, funded in part by the government of Qatar. The network's flagship channels include Al Jazeera Arabic and Al Jazeera English, which pro ...

in August 2013.

Bibliography

* ''Sareng Bau'' (''The Captain's Wife'', 1962) * ''Rajbandir Rojnamacha'' (''The Diary of a Political Prisoner'', 1962) * ''Sangshaptak'' (''The Indomitable Soldiers'', 1965) * ''Peshwar Theke Tashkhand'' (''From Peshwar to Tashkent'', 1966) * ''Krishnachura Megh'' (''Delonix regia Clouds'') * ''Timir Balay'' (''The Circle of Darkness'') * ''Digante Phuler Agun'' (''The Flaming Horizon'') * ''Samudra O Trishna'' (''Sea and Thirst'') * ''Chandrabhaner Kanya'' (''Chandrabhan's Daughter'') * ''Kabe Pohabe Bibhabari'' (''When Will It Dawn?'') (unfinished)

Filmography

;TV Series * '' Songsoptok'' (''The Indomitable Soldiers'', 1971)

Awards

* Adamjee Literary Award, 1962 *

, 1969 *

, 1983 *

, 1998

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaiser, Shahidullah 1927 births 1970s missing person cases 20th-century Bangladeshi male writers 20th-century Bangladeshi novelists Bangladeshi male novelists Bengali-language novelists Missing Bangladeshi people Missing person cases in Bangladesh People from Sonagazi Upazila Martyred intellectuals of the Bangladesh Liberation War Presidency University, Kolkata alumni Recipients of Bangla Academy Award Recipients of the Adamjee Literary Award Recipients of the Ekushey Padak Recipients of the Independence Award Surendranath Law College alumni University of Calcutta alumni