Dhaka: The 122nd birth anniversary of eminent Bengali writer, journalist, travel enthusiast, and linguist Syed Mujtaba Ali is being commemorated today. Born on 13 September 1904 in Karimganj, Sylhet district of the British Raj, Ali was a pivotal figure in advocating for the recognition of Bengali as the state language of East Pakistan, now Bangladesh.
According to Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, Ali was the first to publicly advocate for Bangla as East Pakistan's state language on 30 November 1947, during a gathering at the Sylhet Kendriya Muslim Sahitya Sangsad. His advocacy for the Bengali language made him a significant activist and supporter of the movement for linguistic recognition.
In 1948, Ali, then the principal of Azizul Huq College in Bogra, authored an essay titled 'The State Language of East Pakistan,' which was published in Chaturanga of Kolkata. At the time, the West Pakistani authorities attempted to impose Urdu as the sole state language, despite Bengali being spoken by the majority. When pressed for an explanation by the government of Pakistan, Ali chose to resign and relocate to India.
Ali returned to India in August 1949 after being warned by a friend about potential arrest by Pakistani authorities due to his outspoken support of the Bengali language movement. After a brief period at the University of Calcutta in 1950, he served as Secretary of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations and edited its Arabic journal, Thaqafatul Hind.
From 1952 to 1956, Ali worked with All India Radio across New Delhi, Cuttack, and Patna. He later joined Visva-Bharati University from 1956 to 1964 as a professor of German and Islamic Culture. After living in Kolkata until early 1972, he moved to Dhaka post-liberation of Bangladesh and remained there until his death in 1974.
Ali was proficient in numerous languages, including Sylheti-Bengali, English, Russian, French, German, Italian, Arabic, Persian, Urdu, Hindi, Sanskrit, Marathi, Gujarati, and Pashtu. His travels and stays in Bangladesh, India, Germany, Afghanistan, and Egypt enriched his experiences and writings.
Ali, alongside Natya Guru Nurul Momen and Jajabar (Binay Mukhopadhyay), pioneered a unique category of Bengali writing known as 'Ramya Rachana,' characterized by anecdotal storytelling often drawn from real-life experiences. This style gained immense popularity due to Ali's captivating writing style.
Some of Ali's notable works include "Deshe Bideshe," chronicling his experiences in Kabul, and "Panchatantra," a collection of stories and thoughts from his time in Europe, Cairo, and Baroda. His literary contributions are a staple in the academic curriculum for Bengali Literature across Bangladesh and the Indian states of West Bengal and Tripura.
In 2005, Ali was posthumously awarded the Ekushey Padak, the second-highest civilian award in Bangladesh, by the Government of Bangladesh in recognition of his literary and cultural contributions.