The Freedom of Intellect Movement [1] was a Bengal Renaissance movement advocating rationality against religious and social dogma in Bengali Muslim society. It was spearheaded by intellectuals in the University of Dhaka during the British Raj.
Notable members included Kazi Abdul Wadud, Abul Fazal, Muhammad Shahidullah, Qazi Motahar Hossain, Kazi Nazrul Islam and Abdul Quadir.
The movement also established the prestigious Muslim Literary Society in Dhaka. [2]
Barishal Division is one of the eight administrative divisions of Bangladesh. Located in the south-central part of the country, it has an area of 13,644.85 km2 (5,268.31 sq mi), and a population of 8,325,666 at the 2011 Census. It is the least populous Division within the entirety of Bangladesh. It is bounded by Dhaka Division on the north, the Bay of Bengal on the south, Chittagong Division on the east and Khulna Division on the west. The administrative capital, Barisal city, lies in the Padma River delta on an offshoot of the Arial Khan River. Barisal division is criss-crossed by numerous rivers that earned it the nickname Dhan-Nodi-Khal, Ei tin-e Borishal.
Bengali poetry is a rich tradition of poetry in the Bengali language and has many different forms. Originating in the Bengal region of South Asia, the history of Bengali poetry underwent three successive stages of development: poetry of the early age, the Medieval period and the age of modern poetry. All ages have seen different forms of poetry and poetical tradition. It reached the pinnacle during the Bengali Renaissance period although it has a rich tradition and has grown independent of the movement. Major Bengali Poets throughout the ages are Chandidas, Alaol, Ramprasad Sen, Michael Madhusudan Dutt, Nabinchandra Sen, Rabindranath Tagore, Dwijendralal Ray, Satyendranath Dutta, Kazi Nazrul Islam, Jibanananda Das, Jasimuddin, Sukanta Battacharya, Al Mahmud.
Kazi Nazrul Islam was a Bengali poet, writer, musician, and is the national poet of Bangladesh. Nazrul is regarded as one of the greatest poets in Bengali literature. Popularly known as Nazrul, he produced a large body of poetry, music, messages, novels, stories, etc. with themes that included equality, justice, anti-imperialism, humanity, rebellion against oppression and religious devotion. Nazrul's activism for political and social justice as well as writing a poem titled as "Bidrohī", meaning "the rebel" in Bengali, earned him the title of "Bidrohī Kôbi". His compositions form the avant-garde music genre of Nazrul Gīti.
Lakshmipur (Bengali: লক্ষ্মীপুর, romanized: Lokkhipur, also spelt Laxmipur, with an area of 1455.96 km2, is a district of Bangladesh. It is bordered by Chandpur to the north, Bhola and Noakhali districts to the south, Noakhali to the east, and Barisal and Bhola districts to the west. Lakshmipur was the part of Noakhali until 15February1984.
Syed Ismail Hossain Siraji was a Bengali author and poet from Sirajganj in present-day Bangladesh. He is considered to be one of the key authors of period of the Bengali Muslim reawakening; encouraging education and glorifying the Islamic heritage. He also contributed greatly to introducing the Khilafat Movement in Bengal, and providing medical supplies to the Ottoman Empire and its allies during the Balkan Wars. Anal-Prabaha, his first poetry book, was banned by the government and he was subsequently imprisoned as the first South Asian poet to allegedly call for independence against the British Raj. The government issued Section 144 against him 82 times in his lifetime.
Shawkat Ali was a politician and a leader of the Bengali Language Movement. He was one of the founders of Awami Muslim League - which later became Awami League and is now the Bangladesh Awami League. He was a member of all three Rastrabhasa Sangram Parishad. He was also the Chief Organizer of Dhaka City Awami League during the 1950s. His house in 150, Chawk Moghultuly, Dhaka was the center for many activities and meetings during the Language Movement. He died of a stroke on August 18, 1975. He is buried in Jurain graveyard in Dhaka.
Mohammad Yakub Ali Chowdhury was a Bengali essayist and journalist. He was noted as one of the few Bengali Muslim literary scholars of his time.
Bengali novels occupy a major part of Bengali literature. Though the first Bengali novel was Karuna O Phulmonir Bibaran (1852), the Bengali novel actually started its journey with Durgeshnandini written by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay in 1865. According to Ananda Sanker and Lila Ray, 'when the novel was introduced in Bengali in the middle of the 19th century, the form itself was new, the prose in which it was written was new, the secular tone was new in a country hitherto wholly dominated by religion, and the society in which and for which it was written was new' (p. 168). But some great novelists like Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, Rabindranath Tagore, Manik Bandopadhyay, Tarashankar Bandopadhyay, and Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay developed the newly introduced genre in such a way that 'new' changed into 'matured' through their works. Almost all these literary activities went on in full swing in Kolkata. Dhaka, on the other hand, could not participate in the early stage, but literature created by and of the people of Bangladesh area later on flourished with notable success.
Hemayet Bahini was a guerrilla militia force of Bangladesh in the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971. This small force was known by the name of its leader and organizer Mohammad Hemayet Uddin Bir Bikrom.
Bengalism or Bengali nationalism was a form of nationalism that focused on Bengalis as a singular nation. The people of Bengali ethnicity speak Bengali language. Bengalis mostly live across Bangladesh and the Indian states of Tripura and West Bengal. Bengali nationalism is one of the four fundamental principles according to the original Constitution of Bangladesh. and was the main driving force behind the creation of the Independent nation state of Bangladesh through the 1971 liberation war.
Kazi Abdul Odud was a Bengali essayist, prominent critic, dramatist and biographer. He was born into a lower-middle-class family, in larger Faridpur (present) Rajbari, Pangsha. His father's name was Kazi Sayed hosen.
Ubaidullah Al Ubaidi Suhrawardy was a Bengali educationist and writer in Midnapore during British rule in Bengal.
The Khelafat Majlish, also spelt Khelafat Majlis, is an Islamist political party in Bangladesh. The party was founded in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, in 1989 by Deobandi scholar Azizul Haque along with Ahmad Abdul Qadir and former leaders of the National Awami Party and Tamaddun Majlish. Since its founding, it has only ever gained one seat in the country's National Parliament. The party split into two in 2005, with Azizul Haque's faction taking the name Bangladesh Khelafat Majlish.
The Mukti Bahini, also known as the Bangladesh Forces, was the guerrilla resistance movement consisting of the Bangladeshi military, paramilitary and civilians during the War of Liberation that transformed East Pakistan into Bangladesh in 1971. They were initially called the Mukti Fauj.
Islami Andolan Bangladesh is one of the biggest Islamist political party in Bangladesh. It was founded in 1987 by Fazlul Karim as Islami Shashontantra Andolan, and took its current name in 2008. Its student wing is Islami Chhatra Andolan Bangladesh.
Kazi Aref Ahmed was the President of Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal and one of the organizers of Bangladesh Liberation war.
Muslim Sahitya-Samaj was an influential literary and cultural organization. It was based in Dhaka.
Syed Alimuddin Ahmad, popularly known as Master Saheb, was a Bengali bodybuilder and wrestler. He participated in the anti-British independence movement as an underground activist and revolutionary, as a part of the Dhaka Mukti Sangha organisation. Ahmed rose to prominence after the organisation was absorbed into Subhas Chandra Bose's Bengal Volunteers during the mayorship of Chittaranjan Das in Calcutta.
Shamsuddin Qasemi was a Bangladeshi Islamic scholar, politician, author and educationist. He was the founding president of the Khatme Nabuwwat Andolan Council, former secretary-general of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Bangladesh, former principal of Jamia Madania Chittagong and Jamia Hussainia Arzabad, and the founding chief-editor of the monthly Paygam-e-Haqq and weekly Jamiat magazines. He is also noted for his contributions during the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971.
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