ABDUL MATIN
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ABDUL MATIN - 1031 IQ : This is 1st of June 2011 and I am speaking with Sir Abdul Matin at his residence in West London, Mr. Matin could you please start by telling us little bit about your place and Date of Birth AM : I was born on 13th of April 1924, I was born in Noakhali a District of Wakahal and after my school career I came to Dhaka IQ : please go ahead AM : then I got admission in the Dhaka Intermediate College in those days it was Intermediate College now it is Dhaka College from there after passing ISC Intermediate of Science I went to the Dhaka university and became a student there, a Pass student, Pass course I had my graduation in 1944, 43 then I went for the MSc Class that is for the Pass students it had to be a 2 years course. In those days part I several examinations was there you have to pass it and then go over the second, so I would complete Part I and then Part II at that time partition came and I was politically binded I was determined almost that I would never want the British Government was there and other successors don’t go, don’t go will say for me. Then I thought even if I have a MSc Degree probably I will think what is this I am a brilliant student I am not proud of that but I am a very keen student. Maybe I will have to become a science teacher in a private school where salary would be monthly 50 taka you take 30 now 20 later so I will have to be starving so I am not going to be that also what do I do that is the uncertain situation so in the meantime a private familiar teacher mentioned for that reason I did not sit for my final exam in the meantime partition came then at that time just by chance I met I used to take parties I would participate in demonstrations political demonstrations 2 of them I remember IQ : in Dhaka University? AM : ami je Dhaka university r Chatro I was doing Physics Hons. At that time we were friends Noiruddin and other people in those days they were the brilliant people era sob most of them or all of them were much brighter and brilliant students anyway I was their friend they befriended me because of Left wing forces ideas. So we used to I used to participate in those demonstrations 2 of them I only mentioned one was there was a Rashid ali, Rashid ali is one of the I name Subhas Bose’s INA that is working in INA in National Army that is owned there n Burma and all so they were trying to invade India from Manipur that side and ultimately you know this thing so anyway at that time this man IQ : Rashid Ali AM : Rashid Ali captain or General I cannot remember the designation and he was been tried because of British Government tolerated this till then he was court marshaled Calcutta, Delhi Red Fort e there was a trail tribunal set up he was been tried. At that time there was demonstration all over India communists and others leading Congress and others supported but mainly Left wing in those days communist the other communist groups so that those trade unions were very uniformed. In Dhaka also there was a demonstration organized it is very interesting these matters original matters so I joined that Azad Hind that they demonstrated in those days it started from Dhaka University from their Sodor Ghat now all this Chandi I guess you can imagine Dhaka Sohore now it is possible in those days Dhaka’s population was not even was 100 thousand people I was there and I was one of the I felt very interested and joined and another was too important like this, another was Dak Ghar Bhawan, Post Office of India once again Quit India r songe most of the problem chilo Quit India te amra interested noi bujhlen,, all the Muslims, all the Muslim people there tara Pakistan based Muslims hobe nation hobe ami sardar je Muslim IQ : Fazrul karim and AM : Sardar, manic Choudhury and aro onek lok, cheleder nam amar boi te paben that anyways in short IQ : do you remember other friends just for the records AM : record ami boli apnake in those days Sayed Noiruddin he was the news agent in Songbad e then se esheche partition er pore tar pore Ronesh dasgupto communist party te chilen mara gechen tini ekhon tar pore apnar Monish tar aonke Kolkatta chole gechen Hindu chilen acha ekhon eei je sob ami participate kortaam ABDUL MATIN - 1032 AM : and Salaul Haq tokhon, Nazir Shah sorkar deke chilen tar songe aro porichoy non Bengali kintu amader bishesh priyo jon chilen politically also, onar sathe pore porichoy hoeche IQ : after partition so you will talk about that AM : or songe toh porichoy, partition ektu age samne toh bnduhuto hoeyni IQ : Syed ali ullah AM : bodhoi IQ : where did you meet him first? Where did you meet wali ullah AM : first ooi je noiruddin er kotha bollam na noiruddin chilo tokhon Noiruddin Khan would go upto Khali Ganj tah era Kolkatai partition er age they used to work and sayed moinuddin Khan was with Itefaq eche hole je Abul Saheb toh amar chtro somoi e porichito chilo ebomg Noiruddin amar biseh bondhu chilo bolte anyway eeis sob kajer modhe ache in short eeiderke ami jeta bolte chai kotha ta hocche demonstration ad etadir fole amar snagbadik suru ta ki kore korlam eita bolar jonno onek kotha bole fellam seta hoche eei one of the demonstrations police khub lathi charge korlo. I was in the group of the Sourabhdi camp I was slogan diye egachhe lok ami tokhon chatro jubok ki obostha Sardar bollen pouche gelam ami procession toh asche sesh aar hoe na ooikhane hokhon police lathi charge korlo ke jeno arrest holo amar gaye hate paye puro daag porlo injured rokto berolo na kintu kete gelo tokhon okhan thike amra paliye gelam to paleyi kothai asbo bishesh kore ooikhane tokhon communist party office kachei beshi dure noi communist party bondhu chilo jara aami oder sathe, sathe communist party r office e te dhuke gelam aar oikhane giye amra lukailam sobai. Tar pore ekhon chikitsha amar toh sudhu sammano dressing er moto chollo kono serious injured na tokhon amara bollam Dactar we need a Doctor too to treat us toh which Doctor again any Muslim Doctors we were the Pakistan bolle dhora pore jabe police e diye debe so eei sob so they brought a Doctor, Doctor TN.Sen, Doctor T.N.Sen amar embarrassment dekhe I was sitting behind 20-30 people were there Doctor T.N.Sen was the teacher physiology Department e Nager Bazaar e he was the Lecturer, Professor whatever the he was my teacher and he liked me very much. In fact in my Department exam I stood first tar pore ami ekta scholarship pelam se scholarship amar chole gelo ekhane amar financial problem chilo amar father could not send me enough money for that so this was a boon. Uni amake khub pochondo korten uni amake tomar kono nara so I felt encouraged eei bhodrolok jokhon with a bag bhitore johon dhuklen ami dhorone rokto so this man teacher amake jigesh korlo tumi eei sob congress er sathe jao toh jai hok ami toh eeikhane gechilam aschorjo pass aar korlam na toh British bollen so my participation police fail koreche tini dekhe teke bollen chintar aar karon nei he was just dressing generally the other people. Sob jokhon chole jai kichu khon bade tokhon ooi khane ekta lok boshe chilo ek bhodrolok amar chei bosie beshi tini amake naam jigesh korlen bollo acha tui snagbadike jabi you want to toh amai bolchi etaydi baba tumi ki kore abriti kore amai jani na bole tokhon he just told me a story that he was the it is the United of India it’s the name of an organization he is a man originally from Borishal toh he was there one of the senior IQ : United Press of India AM : United Press of India acha eeita ekhono je pore jekhon jail boshe ontotoh 10 bochor amai oder correspondent chilam Dhaka e ebong oder onek gopon thoto je gulo Dhaka pore geche se gulo amake arrest korbar kotha eei dhoroner ghotona pore toh eni amake IQ : means you send the secret AM : eeibar je Salalah ul Haq naam jageh he told me you want to be a journalist tokhon amai bollam je na, na ami toh journalist ki jani tokhon uni bollen na he told me the story IQ : what was the year if you can remind AM : it was 1940’s, ami suru korechi jokhon no one knew Journalism IQ : 47 AM : 47 e ami kaaj korbo thik korechilam to look for a job sitting for an exam ami tokhon Radio te Dhaka e amar porichiito ekta script ditaam aar Sonar Bangla ekta newspaper IQ : just after the partition AM : partition er ager thike suru kore over 46 – 47 er modhe so eke k ta one or two short stories I wrote and send this read a script over the radio so they used to give 5 taka’s so the first 5 taka I earned in those days because I wrote an article on Irish sammono idea Bangla te likhe Kolkata pathalam sent in Jugantor in those days it was a very popular paper a few days later when we saw Jugantor I found the whole story peeping I could not believe it that the first writing was published a few days later a peon a postman was looking for me ki byapaar ese bollo ete apnar money order ache so I had informed khamer modhe 5 taka r money order ooi kagoj ta apnar lekhar jonno je IQ : from Jugantor AM : I couldn’t believe my luck anyway ABDUL MATIN - 1033 AM : taar pore sob kotha bad dao jeta bolte chai amar professional jibon kemon bodle gelo se kotha ami bolte chai na ekhon holo eei bhodrolok bollen je ooi United Press er lok ki United Press, United Press of India r je Managing Director se founder that tini from Kummilla, eei sob lok kummilar Bangladesh er lok keo nei IQ : East Bengal AM : ha, onar naam eei muhurte bhule jaai amar boi te ache ooi guli paben anyway seei lok take bollo Nazimuddin Saheb, Nazimuddin je Chief minister East Bengal hoyeche that he would subscribe to UPI News they would supply whatever mane eei jonno oder debe eta patronize korbe eta aar Indian er nijosho kichu nei nijeo aar Pakistane o Khobor tobor jabe eei jonno bodo sahib promised because 3 months later Nazimuddin replied finally dekha koren Nazimuddin er secretary private dekha kotha barta hoe acha hobe, hobe kichu hoi na 3 months later they decided thakar khoroch ache ke debe badi bhada dewa omul tomuk etaydi tokhon eei lok amake bollo amader office close kore debo tumi Jodi sangbadik hote chao toh tomake ekta jinish debo ooi office ta takhbe ooita khola thakbe ooikhane ekta peopn thakbe darowan aar ooi sob dekha korbe okhane so next day I went to Saw him there se amake bollo eei je file seei file er modhe telegram pathobo thokhon er dine acknowledgment chilo na thokon apnar telegram patha teo English e likhte hobe ami to English bidyapoti amar toh ekhono engraji bola nei sammano bol seta prokash korte pari jai hok in that he showed me abbreviate kotha sobdo gulo what to do and telegram pathalo je the other words eei sobdo gulo ke baad ditte paro tah ekhon we had a look at it then he told me je look this is the typewriter and this the telephone we will pay for this IQ : so you had all the latest technologies AM : yes from the start ami korlam ki 2 din katiye why not try and I had no job so I somehow was managing myself onek taka poisar byapaar aar ki so I said why not do it then in the meanwhile because of Khairen Kapoor and other people amar chei boisheo bodo amar bondhu hoychilen pore se onno kotha boite eei sob paben ora tokhon Dhaka e eseche he came from Dhaka and he started he was given this responsibility je amar ektta new paper er office korbo you will organize, he came aar studio onujai anyways se ese Azad ta koik ek maas thaklo Azad suro korlo amar sathe porichoy chilo amaol theke Sirajudullah saab chilen and Fazrul Haq amar thike senior boishe uni jokhon Dhaka e IQ : you are talking of Akram Khan AM : Akram Khan er paper Azad Hind er malik, toh Akram sahib IQ : what was his name? AM : Khalil Kapil amra daktaam Farid he was well known with everybody he was the bestest possible in the University acha dekha korar port ah kokata giye kagoje jokhon dhuklen sekhan thike ora Patna they tried to organize je age amra office korbo ekta toh tokhon ami taar help nilam purono porichoy revive korlam so ami bollam je ami toh report pore aami taar help nilam ami taar advice nilam aami toh tomake chinlaam ami ekbar ami Muslim chele Kolkata r kichu chini na ekbar casually kolkatai kichu din kathiyechilam chini na kauke so he introduced me to those people and then I gradually did my job reasonably well then the Calcutta United Press of India then I telephoned them and I told them look I need some pocket money at least tokhon bollen hobe, hobe amra toh kichu taka pai nai Nazimuddin taka gulo debo bolchilo toh dekhi ami toh bina poisai I cannot do I did not like this bollam ki je December ami Kolkata r Natok e dekhte jabo plan korlam kichu sammano poisa chilo so I talked to the Managing director and tini said tomake amra 3 maas tokhon paar hoye geche. ABDUL MATIN - 1034 AM : important news a government and other news with the help of these friends and in the meanwhile I met the Chief Minister office sekhane giye tader secretary der songe sob dekha korlam so pleased with Calcutta je we will give you an honorary of 30 taka a month, ami bollam bhaloi kotha amar toh, 10 Rs. Was good enough for me tokhon kaar dine 5 taka the khawa dawa khoroch aar 5 taka haat khoroch eei plan so 30Rs. Sobai baade dekhlaam onek gulo important news pathiyeche Dhaka tokhon journalist ek matro chilam tar por sob amar modhe knowledge chilo tah senior dui jon lok chilo ek jon chilo Statesman, Statesman Kolkata r editor Dhaka ei correspondent chilen he joined Staesman in Calcutta in the news Department he came there as a Representative taar taka poisa everything kintu amake choto bhai obdi nilen because for news you have to be careful amara toh take bollam na his close hands what he is going to do as his rival but he befriended me and amake bodo bhai bole oh amake aro onek sahajjo peyechi professionally oro onek byapare toh to control the story here eder marfote aami eei sob kore kore 6, 7 mas jawar pore ami dekhlaam je aami aar ki korte jabo eei ta tei ami stick kore jabo you know I got interested in politics ekhon nanan intriguing byapaar hoye Nazimuddin chole gelo what happened I said I got interested in Dhaka r bibibhinno kagoj gulo te I joined them when he managed to bring out Azad for Maulana Akram he said come to Dhaka at that time then a house was built for him he came Azad compound seikhane uni aslen tar pore seikhane malik holen ora Kolkatai chilen ek jon ese jigesh korlen tumi ki kore kagoj ber korlen eei songbad to itihas to cut short the story ami tokhon mone mone thik korlam no I am not going to look for any leaders kintu ami jantam gora ta Bidyapati sob kichu miliye one thing I was determined I must make a success off whatever I do I have to do it they said what else I can do giye school e Master er o 50 taka mayne toh oder chakri thake why should I go there aar I want to have some maintenance so that I can contribute toh IQ : how long did you continue as a journalist AM : acha then from there onek onek ghotona r pore to cut short the story again I continued 1958 an important order at that time they deputed a speaker of East Pakistan assembly Shahid Ali, he was murdered I was the only reporter in the house at that time you see aamar other friends journalist friends all of them I was very personal of that one person about 15 of the journalists they were outside there was a demonstration outside even bongu Bondhu was there but I didn’t was there and others language Movement supporters that Language movement demonstration outside the building there that building is no longer there they demolished it that was the building at that time so everybody went there I had a good friend there a journalist friend he was a reporter with Songbad at that time so I told him you go and tell me what happens there I will take notes from you and what happened here inside I will tell you at that time Mohan mia he was a Muslim ek kale Muslim er eei sob tah ekhon amaio tokho Fazrul er pokhe tokhon ta uni aamr samne boshe chilen eei table e member ra boshe chair er upore haat tule eeirokom ekta piece eeirokam ekta thake left hand side there is a screw push it, it kind of goes out and pull it, it is a table so he got that one through and the man died so I was so I recorded that one anyway eei ghoto nar pore eei rokom hotta pore aami korlam ki I got so excited and I got very angry about it police came already and you see it and asked will you give a statement I said yes of course so I told them bangle tei Statement nile bollen eeikhane dostokhot koren ami boli when I finished that one I put myself in a trap I should not be doing this, this is a murder case eei sob byapare ami aar jabo na then ami bollam I don’t want to sign it they said you will have to do it otherwise they gave internal threat. A day later I came to my office I had an office at that time I joined United Press of Pakistan which is organized from Karachi so I was at the same time correspondent for United Press of Pakistan in Karachi and correspondent in Calcutta so the whole subcontinent I knew cable pathiye dilo so I felf very happy eei somoi jeta bolte jachilam seta hochhe eei ohh ami tokhon thik korlaam Ayub Khan amole ami ekta chotto boi likechilam seta apnake dobo sekhane eei incident ta mention korechi aami tokhon korlaam ki je des her badi giye thakto ta deshe takhte hole if you stay there I cannot will not be allowed to write a line against him because if I have had that independence tale amake chakri chadte hobe tahole Sangbadik kokoho cholbe na tah bhablam especially ohh jeta bolte bhule gelam je State thike next a police came to me se boolen je tumi dostokhot korle na toh ami bollam je ami dostokhot na korle hoi na please forgive me ami ulta palta ki bolechi I don’t remember even so I don’t want to sign it but he said you have to do it otherwise tomake court e niye giye and there will be a contempt so all the threats were there so I signed it later shakily. A few days later I started getting calls from unknown people from unknown voices believe me what is the situation you communicate with people ami tokhon oder bbollam bangla te je tahole toh aapnara janen nale eei prosno moren ki more toh aami ki pathayi khobor dobor you know it, it’s up to you amake aar jigesh kore labh ta ki even then taar pore 2 jon threat korlo ooi je ami bollam je hotta r who was somebody threatened me over that so I got worried ami bikele chorcha korlaam jawa jai kina ta se keno jabe na ta ooi sob kotha bollen jaar jonno holo na USIS said that they will send me but because of police report it did not materialize but ora amake US bollen everything was final but it did not happen so then I got the help I managed to get befriend my mane this German Counsel in Dhaka toh tader suggest korlaam tumi amake invite Jodi koro talle I can go iti modhe amar ekta bondhu osustho hoye gelo he was a political man important taar songe onek kotha amar boite ache se thake London e so taar sathe giye London e kichu din I just ga Dhaka diye thakbo and then eei kore prothome beriye jete osubidhe holo nana rokomer osubidher pore ta pelam I came back had a sub editor place and then I decided whether I can come and stay here for some time till I, In those days I thought that I will last that long bokar moton I thought that maybe I will be thrown out by sometime a civil company will come back with the guys support of the that was me someone but when I thought that this is not going to happen so when I came back from London I said I will come back here to stay I had to return back home because I had a temporary passport sei temporary passport er kotha aami jantam na, I knew how I be fooled the Chief Secretary in those days make bikele bolche youngest man of the press conference committee editors committee of Dhaka editors because I was the editor of a daily of Pakistan so I was a member so I was a young man and sob lok amar baaper boisher sob lok Salaul Haq, Gautam etaydi, Johar bhai all those were members so eeibhabe ami I tried to begin a good book taar kache giye bollam eei temporary passport ta can I have a temporary passport? Ta bollo tumi jano ki kore? Ami bollam na how I found out that from the Chamber of Passport, police check korle toh debe na amake so anyway I got the temporary passport niye ferot diye bhablam Jodi eeibar I come back from London I must have a passport 4 months only ta ekhon at that time I went to Passport onek kando ABDUL MATIN - 1035 AM : organized almost everything finally aami passport office e I was coming back to my office tokhon okhane jongoler moton ghasher moton chilo ami aschillam dekhi ki je Bongo Bondhu amar age amar porichoy hoyechilo sangbadik hisebe tokhon Bongo Bondhu ekkhon toh beche nei, aami oikhan thikke aaschi durer thike dekhchi ekta dotola badi r upore standing dewa ami na sorbonash security r pichone ooikhane or sathe Jodi aami kotha boli giye Jodi jai tahole police amake dekhbe toh mara porbo pabe toh uttor khola jayga open jayega tokhon eei gasher upore khaler moto chilo ekhon toh khal taal aar kichu nei ami ooikhane nouka te jawar chesta korchilam Bongo Bondhu daklen “eei Matin othai jaccho?” ami jeno sunlam na chole gelam kichu dur aro 5 10 jawar pore are asho, asho bhoi pacho ami tokhon gelam eei sob kotha amar boi te ache tae k kothai sesh kori eeikhane Bongo Bondhu tokhon amake bollen je what do you think about Ayub ami bollam ami to oti biplobi toh noi ami bhablam Ayub ke to ora udiye debeen but they would not accept my keno tumi bolo ami bollam Dhaka sohore tokhon apni janen Ayb Khan koto gulo jinisher daam fix kore dilen tate bohut loker lokshaan hoye geche ssei 4 poisa e na 4 taka chilo ooi bhoi corruption bole kichu lok ke case korlen ek jon budu business man North Bengal er kono sohore ki ekta safety thing or something beshi dame bikiri koreche take jorimana korlo eei khobor kagoje berolo kintu eei sob case onek kotha bhule gelam ekhon holo ki eesi somoi korlo ki Dhaka r sob dokan par they started bina poisa e tokhon bollo first suru korlo je sob sari amar ma r jonno tokhon ami kintaam 2022 takai ooigulo 500 taka diye ja kushi niye jao so all this within a day or two sob dokan path most of the shops owned by Hindus kapoder dokan all these were Hindus sob aar ora boleo dilo keo keo threat korlo eei sammano sesh hoe jabo aar birat keo oder samne keo bollo na 500 lok dariye ache ekta ghorer samne ekta jutor dokane sandal pore gelam BATA r sandal by this time I reached there half an hour r modhhe juta sob ude chole geche amar eei kotha mone ache tai Bongo Bondhu ke bollam aami je eei dosha eita jotokhon thabe totokhon people problem ta jai hok ekhon eei kotha bole tokhon aami bhablam aar passport office so I came here so that is the beginning of that but I came here as a journalist luckily for me Pakistan Observer in those days they said that they will appoint me as the London correspondent but appointment letter did not come through so I told them in that case forget about it. Sallullah Saab bollen je editor we will send it to you we will send it to your London address but I went to Azad because I was at that time ekhon at that time I was their correspondent Chief Reporter for about 2 years before I had other full time jobs, ek songe 3 4 te kagoje kortaam toh ooikhane gelam aar are you going to appoint me as the correspondent bollo ha korbo but we cannot give you enough money so whatever you give me as a correspondent toh taar ekta salary holo reasonable sei din I got a appointment letter with that I came to London and hoping within a year or two that I will go back because I was a very important journalist one of the because I was the secretary of the Press for 2 years I was the secretary of Dhaka press club bujhle acha then Journalist Union then IQ : is it in the 50’s you mean in the early 50’s, when AM : in the beining 50 bocherer prothom dike eita proper badita pelam age kintu before the house was not given to us as a bribe as I mentioned how we got it from the government ache aamar boi te Jodi apni jante chan in short I was holding all the important positions there so I thought when I go back there I will go but I will go so gradually I decided je Ayub Khan joto din na jai so I started I continued to do those favors but the money or whatever I used to get from the newspaper was not enough so Azad after two years a year or more Azad stopped sending me money so I had a very difficult time at that time my wife very young she had a job so we somehow were surviving not enough at that time because it was in German I had other problem eei je amar ghor toh bollo je tomara toh chole jabe you will go back kono permamnet job aar deye na eei stuggle amader cholche IQ : toh she is German? AM : hmm, IQ : You met her in Germany AM : yes,ami Germany ooi je Europe ghure the first book I wrote was Europe r desh, desh niye ekta boi likhechi saat ta desh e ami ghurechilam nijer bahaduri r kotha bolte chain a everywhere I managed without spending a penny I went to 7 different countries stayed in Dussledorf and back and then I came back I managed it because I was lucky and luck favored me IQ : for Observer AM : for Observer, in the meanwhile aami dekhlam je I cannot survive on that one and why should I so ki korbo I was thinking of I thought I will take some job whatever job though something on permanent basis at that time a commission boleche ekhon jeta eeitar naam bodleche se prothom Labour party said set up that they passed a Law about Housing egulo ami discrimination bondho korar jonno se organization e ami join korlam as an information officer achha jai hok eei kore kintu I never gave up journalism In fact I used to send news letter bibhinno kagoje pathataam so I continued with this toh jokhon ami 1971, 69 e jokhon uthol pathal cholche Bangladesh e at that time amar 8/9 bochorer por I went to Bangladesh I went to see my sister and brother in law amar Brother in law was the Pakistan Government Chief Scientific officer jar jonno pore by chance Abdul Choudhury he was my brother in law so I went to see them there and then I said I am going to Dhaka to see my mother’s others so they came along with me, at that time Bangladesh er uthan hoye geche Bongo Bondhu ami eei sob kichur mental note nilam note niye bad baki sob kichu likhte hobe anyway ami khub utsahito hoye phire elam je kichu ekta hoyte jacche taar pore when I came back to London amar bondhu bandober eikhane ekta group chilo also chikitsar jonno 62 te bodhoi IQ : toh she is German? AM : hmm, IQ : You met her in Germany AM : yes,ami Germany ooi je Europe ghure the first book I wrote was Europe r desh, desh niye ekta boi likhechi saat ta desh e ami ghurechilam nijer bahaduri r kotha bolte chain a everywhere I managed without spending a penny I went to 7 different countries stayed in Dussledorf and back and then I came back I ABDUL MATIN - 1036 AM : again eeikhane boli tokhon korlam ki ami ekta temporary kaaj korlam Observer lok er a amake abaar joga jog korlo so MUSA helped me , MUSA was a agent and he said you should know me well so they said we want to appoint you as a correspondent so I agreed so the money they offered me in those days IQ : MUSA means AB MUSA AM : AB Musa ekhon toh kagoje lekhe o tokhon news reader chilo ooi kagojer ta jai hok ekhon so I became the eei ek bochor gap chilo Azad e likhtam news reader ami news pathatam then I continued. In the United Press of Pakistan people the Manager liked me very much aar je sob new porieche se boiete paben, tader income Potrika tokhon other news subscribe korto na amar johkon news Dhaka r theke berote suro korlo Bongo Bondhu, Maulana Bhasani mukhe ki kore eei sob news saape gala gaal bujhechen saape taar gala gaal toh seei somoi er kotha boli ki jeno bolchilam anyways ekhon ooi Observer er loker boleche jee other kothai raaji holam toh ami ultimately bollam je minimum amake 60 pound dite hobe tah saheeb bollen 40 pound aar 20 pound daak korch lagbe etaydi byaapar aar telegram pathanor jonno ekta bearing authority will be paid in Pakistan currency eei ja so I continued for about 2 years IQ : for Pakistan Observer AM : Pakistan Observer, in the meanwhile aami dekhlam I cannot survive on that one and why should I so ki korbo I was thinking of at this stage I thought I will take up a job whatever job to do something on a permanent basis, at that time a commission poreche bollo je ekhon jeta etar naam bodleche sei observation prothom Labour Party set up matlaab passed a Law housing and other things discrimination bondho korar jonno se organization e 20 taka ooikhanei join korlaam as an Information officer acha jai hok eei kore toh I never gave up journalism ethi modhe I used to send news letter bibhinno kagoje patham so continued with this toh jokhon ami 1971, 69 e jokhon uthol pathal cholche je Bangladesh e at that time amar 8 9 bochorer pore I went to Bangladesh. I went to see my sister and brother in law, amar brother in law was Pakistan Government er Chief Adivsor tai jonno pore by chance Abdul Choudhury he was my brother in law tah ami toh onar toh konoi chinta nai so I went to see them there and from there I went to Dhaka see my mother’s others so they came along with me. At that time Bangladesh e uthol pathal hoye jache Bongo Bondhu ekbar jail e tokhon aami ei sob er mental note nilam je eei sob likhte hobe ami khub utsahito hoye phire elam je kichu ekta hoyte jacche tar pore when I came back to London amar bonu bhandober ekta group chilo amara tokhon eei sob ki korte hobe we planned that one in short amra ekta group meet kore founded a informer group bolte paren IQ : In favor of Bangladesh AM : hmm, Bangladesh er byapare amader naam nilam amra tuijone sangbadik profession e chillam so I decided a news letter first, an English news letter to inform the people about western world America ambassador so we started the newslatter, eei newslatter ami tokhon Banggladesh e eta prothom newsletter tini naam dilen Bangla editor so we called ourselves Bangla newsletter Group jokhon ektu lok jogar korlaam bondhu bandhobder diye anyways so I started that way ebong eei sob korar fole tar por jokhon Bangladesh sadhin holo, sadhin howar pore Bongo Bondhu also Chief Minister hoye 72 te bodhoi toh eti modhe korlo ki Dhaka te IQ : Gol bladder operation AM : acha tar age r kotha boli eti modhe ami je sangbadik amar nondhu bandhob take jane toh somebody contracting me je tumi sangbadik e te ascho na amader sangbadik tomader Jodi dorkaar hoye thik ache but I have a full time job, I don’t need money any more tobe Nazimuddin er amole ami Khobor pathate chai I discovered one wonderful thing amr ambassador of High commission he was most of them are past friends or others so when I discovered that I feel very good. I tell you the name for 10-15 years 50 theke 70, 20 bochor IQ : from Dhaka University AM : era sob Dhaka University r to tell you Paris e, Rome e, sob jayegays my friends chatro jiboner so I contacted them and they gave me all internal stories eei sob story carefully ami telegram pathiye ditam, patha nor pore ami plan korlam je tokhon Bangladesh er songsod er obostah pore bollo amra apnake correspondent korbo aar ekta chiti diye dilo. IQ : who were they? Who were these people? AM : Bangladesh er sogostah IQ : Bangladesh Basor amade somoi, Bangladesh news AM : hmm, Bangladesh Basor tah ora amake joga jog korlo, korar pore aami bollam ha ami correspondent hote parbo eei tomader maineta dite hobe amake aar dhak khoroch I don’t need a salary even aar amar utsaho IQ : this is after the birth of Bangladesh AM : hmm, after the birth of Bangladesh acha jageh anyway so I continued this unofficially correspondent of Bangladesh almost for 2 years aar eita keno chilo keno hoyeche tokhon Bongo Bondhu r upore amar ekta khob chilo karon Bongo Bondhu amake promise kore chilen je tumi eta chadbe na make jigeshha kore tumi full time hoye chole aso ami bollam Bongo Bondhu, tpkhon Bongo Bondhu ooi, ami bollam Bongo Bondhu na NO ami full time er lok er obhab nei, Lot of ami je chakriii te achi I can survive ami badi ta diyeche ami eita guchiye uthte pari ni amar ekta young family amar choto bacha ekta meye hoyeche etyadi tai ami jete chai na amar boi te onek gopon totho pabe jokhon 60 er dosok thike amake ki bolechen Ayub somondhe apar 62 sale gopon all those stories amar chilo egulo pore renewed hoyeche notun kore eei jonno Bongo Bondhu amake pochondo korto na amar dharona chilo tini jokhon eeikhane elen chikitsar joonno ami dekha korte gelam kintu ono khobor nei ki hoche na hoche ooi press thike ek din Bongo Bobdhu khobor pathalen je Matin ke bolo dekha kore jeno tah ami toh lojitto hoye gelam maaf koro tah khobor ami thik diyechi ki hoche chikitsar byaapar dekha ore tini bollen ami tokhon operation hoye geche ami jabo come along with me aamar eta annual holiday ami sesh kore amar toh aar chute pauna nei ta aami ki kore jabo tini bollenbina mayner chutti nao tah ekhon ami gellam tah seikhane ja dekhechi sob kotha likechi Bangladesh e top lok jaara even Ambassador,High Commissioner era Bongo Bondhu ke ki rokom bhabe betray koreche sei amole, sei amole all I have written in the boi je Bongo Bondhu r name boi tah jai hok se onek kotha tini manten aami ekhon short kotha boli kintu eei sangbadik er kaaj ta ami continue kore jachillam, korte, korte taar pore Bangladesh e kichu din continue korar pore amake unseriously without telling mohammad Jinnah even amake soriye dilo ekta lok ke pathalo bolte chain a onno keo hobe IQ : what is his name? AM : naam bolbo na eei sob kotha but then I didn’t bother about it kintu ami eei kotha likhlaam news letter likhlaam bibihno kagoje ABDUL MATIN - 1037 AM : I consider myself as a journalist still now seta ami likechi then I waited for many years in the meanwhile after the murder of Bongo Bondhu I decided Sangbadik I must make use of that one so amar nijer pocet er sob poisa ber kore I started publishing a monthly newslaetter later naam dilam “Sunrise” eei sunrise r naam ta sugesst korechen ek jon lok ekhon bolbo na ek jon interesting lok Bangladesh er lok tini Indonesia te Pakistan der sathe misten, Banagli amake khub khatir korten kintu taar somondhe pore sunlaam je Pakistan er amole tini Bangladesh er kaaj korechen tah sesh muhurte sei bhodorlok asche khub biddan pondit lok ekdom genuine lok Bengali kintu chakri bakri r kotha jaani na. Anyway this man retire korar pore London aslen taar Jamai er songe amr porichoy holo tokhon tini amake ek din bollen je Bongo Bondhu r hotta eei sob ki hocche apnara ki korchen we had a meeting in our station leaflet, pamphlet, booklet we started doing it tokhon ami korlaam ki ooi Sunrise potrika baar korlaam 4 piece er kagoj type korte kosto amar German bondhu ek mohila tini amader bina poisa e type kore dilen amar ek Bangali bondhu chilen eeikhane bhikahatto lok chilo amader amar boi teo ter paben Nazir Ahmad mullah, Nazir Ahmad Mullah r porichoy eei jokhon phirlaam eei Bunglow er thike phire je corporation ache na he was the operation Director of that one taar pore eei Pakistan Governmet e ebomg poroborti amole Pakistane first color laboratory tini korechilen oder songo somporko kore ebong ooi poribaar ere k jon German mohila eer songe biye korechilo bujhlen ta jai hok eni London e eshe ekta printing factory korlen ha ekta printing factory korlen amar eei sob boi te bina poisa e ber korlen IQ : I see in this picture, if I interrupt a little bit you were with Nobel Proze winner CB Raman and also Faiz Ahmad is a Pakistani journalist, yeah and then Mahababul Alam so how could you were together when was there any particular AM : amader sob toh eeigulo ther modhe onek jon mara gechen , eeita hoche apnar 56 – 57 er byapaar IQ : 57, AM : amra india te tour er jonno gechilaam, amra bibhinnoo meet korchi ekhon ooi story ta bolte chain a but then anyway era hoche khotim sahib je apni naam sune chen jaani na eni khub bikhato boi ber korechen se boite aar pawa jai na Sirajudullah ki kore gayeb korechen Bangladesh e onno kotha bole chole jabo, eni obangali kintu Bongo Bondhu r khub close chilo ebong Bangladesh er supporter chilo kagoj editor kore chilen se apnake serious daitoo diyechlam je kolob lagabo etyadi Bongo Bondhu onake Pakistan Observer e phire pathiye chilen mayne bondo kore dew ar pore onek bochor bod den toh ini Faiz Ahmad ekhono beche ache, Noiruddin mara geche, Noirudin hoche apnar IQ : ke, Faiz Ahmad AM : hmm, Faiz Ahmad ekhono beche IQ : Dhaka te AM : toh taar pore Noiruddin o mara geche se news editor, sangbadik ebong onno onno capacity te chilo taar pore sarkar e chakri o korten taar ma takhten Bangladesh ei eke Bono Bondhu betray korechilo seei kahini o ache acha jai hok taar pore eei je Indian Journalist amader help korlen toh Bangali lok jon taar songe taar songe ekta interesting lekha likechi ekhon aar seta bolbo na seta pore dekhben seta boi te o paben apni toh jai hok eta amar kormo jiboner ekta chobi amar ooi office Prince Charles gechilen amader ooi Office e amader Chairman chilen jinni tini member chilen ekhon tini maara gechen IQ : in 75 AM : ooi je Indian chilen Deputy High Commissioner apnar der Sri Sri Desai ami er somondhe likhbo bhabchi I have some thrilling stories eei somoi amar porichoy hoyeche eta ekhono likhini IQ : so in 1955 you were meeting the Indian Deputy High Commissioner AM : ami tokhon secretary with Press Club IQ : Press Club er secretary AM : acha eeikhane dekhaen Karachi jokhon amra gelam Pakistan jokhon invite korlen niye gelen East association er naam kore Governemt gave some money east Pakistan e Politician, journalist toh sei group e 11 joner modhe I was the leaser of the group delegation amra 11 jon Dhaka r theike gelam sob journalist Dhaka er theke Karachi te eta United Pakistan er founder and editor founder, managing Director chilen Aziz ekhono beche achen ini chilen tokhon editor fole eei hoche Bangladesh er songosthar Bongo Bondhu take press president korechilo kore London e pathiyechilo pore Press council e kore aar ashar somoi retire sobai eei je Mukul mara geche, eei ta hoche Mukul er chobi eer naam bhule gechi e hoche reporter bibhino kagoje pore Industrial Development Corporation e se Press Officer chilo tar pore eigulo Pakistani Journalist aar eeita mayo eni o mara gechen kokhono prokash kore ni nijeke amar khub bishesh bondhu priyo jon chilo as a person eei sangbadik ooi group er chobi. Acha to cut short the story again jeta bolche jachilaam je IQ : so you were talking if I take you a little back in the late colonial period did you have any memories of the famine and in 1943 and AM : of course I will tell you one thing IQ struggle? : and what also tagged with that what were the economic circumstances and all this AM : sono sono eta ami chhoto ekta boi apnake debo eei boi ta te famine er upore amra communist party r ono ano loker jara beche achi IQ : and also how you became Left wing in a way AM : thik holo eei Sardar mosai er songe porichoy howar pore cokhta khulte suru korlo, taar age amar chokta khulechilo ki bhabe janen se kotha ami likechi school er patho jibone IQ : you were in school AM : in those days in 1940 ami Matriculation er porikha diye sei bochore amader 6 boi Government thike amra portaam toh 6 ta boi any school gave the option kon subject select korbe so sei somoi Nehru’s letter to his daughter Indira Gandhir 12 bochor bois at that time Nehru used to write letters to the daughter from Prison eei lekha guli sob boi hisebe chapa hoilo latest with daughter er naam diye, eta porar pore political kischu bujhtaam na but political join, political kotha lekhar bidda onek chilo ta se kotha bad do ami je bolchi important kotha boli anyway tini amake eei amar subhage inculcate mane gethe diyechen jukti torker bayre jabe na je kono jinish jukti diye bichar korbbe IQ : rationalism AM : never take accept anything bodhrolok naam na niye engit korten kintu just for a day toh tini amake bolten je proshno korbe ekhon this is the beginning of my choritro taar pore ooi boi ta je porlam tokhon ami toh obak hoye gelam IQ : which book, Nehru’s book AM : Nehru’s boi letter to his daughter ami tokhon eei patriot sobdo ta bole ki mohilar der matriculation chilo pore khoj korlaam Assam e ekkhono ache ami aar 10 bochor baade assam e giye tribal area tea mar Indian journalist bondhu giye I discovered and found out matri and how they works eta 50 er kotha ooi boi ta pore amar chomotkar upokar holo je patriarchal society ki kore holo, iti modhe IQ : one thing I would ask how did you know about the rationalism in Bangla AM : kintu ki korbe beginning e jokhon dekhlaam je Somaj was not lying it was changing the society eei kotha ta mathei prothom dhuklo eta chinta kora nothing changes ja chilo aro hajar 20 bochor pore tai thakbe there will be no change acha ekhon amar mathar kotha ta eei bhabe chinta korlen seikhane jukti thakar kotha eei sob further questions kore etyadi tar pore somaj bodlache eei sob er bayre ooi boi ta pore ami baper sathe alap kortaam korte korte eei sob conscious holo je Dhake jokhon aslam tohon Sardar Fazrul er sathe dekha holo tokhon communist party eei sob Dhaka er Chatror professor o tokhon Arts e pore eei sob adda, amra jara science pori IQ : who all you know from Dhaka University who were Left minded? From Dhaka University were there AM : onek lok toh sob kotha Jodi jante chan Mr. amar next boi ta jokhon berobe porben eei bochore noi koek bochore beriye jabe ami jeta songhe korar chesta korchi seta hochhe eei ami kotha ektu beshi boli aar ektu emotional kotha IQ : engraji te na bolle bangle te bolle bhalo hoto tale AM : anyway ami ekhono kichu guchiye bolte pari ni to cut short the story again, ABDUL MATIN - 1038 AM : I became conscious about these things society so at that time I read 2 books Communist Party of India tader publishing firm called national library, National Libraries of Kolkatta anyway they used to publish those lot of them were English but most of them were translated in Bengali and one of the books first was written was Gol Krishna’s mother when I read that one ami Saorat chondro o Robindro Nath er boi age porechi kintu are that was a new world for me then I found a book eei boi tar naam hoche “original family” bangla onubad aro obak hoye gellam this was new ami toh eei sob pori bigyaan, biography etaydi etaydi pori then I decided at that time I English e original boi ta porte hobe tokhon English e pawa jai na that was the first book I bought IQ : The original Family AM : taar pore Marxist communist party r kotha sunechilam amar bondhu der alap holo kintu Original ta porte hob eek din ami eei desh e ashar pore ooi gulo kinlam eei sob pore tore… IQ : but in Dhaka, Dhaka enviorment how those ideas circulated? AM : ooi je sardar Fazrul eei lok guli itihas goreche apni porben ami likechi ki kore holo, those were the people tader guru chilo ke Robi Guho name ek bhodrolok chilo oder senior became my friend. Robi was a very good student infact science e first position peychilo pore maara gechen ekhon amr somoi amar bondhuto hoye eei Robi, Robi korlo ki he recruited these people ki bhabe recruit korlo sono sono anti danga, anti communal riot call korte jache peace squadron tai and then relief durbikhe er somoi eei sob guli korte korte gradually some of them joined the party itself party member etaydi hoilo ami kintu because I was interested in that ekhon jei kotha bolte suru kortechi bhule gechi eei durbikher kotha that was a frightening experience in real life ami korlaam ki tokhon lekha amar sopno chilo ami writer ooi uni golpo likhten eei guli newspaper Azad had a childrens section column Powerful eei Mukul naam ta diyechen Kazi nazrul Islam toh ooi khane ami I started sending golpo kobita ami kono din likhi nai ami bidaner ko ek bochor pore biganne ami ooi biography of science eei sob likhe likhe pathai aar eti modhe jugantor amar lekha pore 5 taka peye gelam, tokhon 5 taka sopnno jai hok tokhon Fazrul Haq you could have a whole months dining room fees 5 taka ooi 5 taka chede din toh acha anyway ekhon sesher dike Famine jokhon holo ami je eei kotha ta bolte chai toh apnake boli IQ : please AM : eei hostel e amader tokhon kaar dine ghost toh aar khawa jai na 5 taka tetokhon kaar dine 6 taka hoto one daal aar bhaat ekta torkari Jodi hoye aar kono din tuk tak mach dilo eei taka r modhe ekhon er modhe amar 5 taka r poisa aar nei most of them used to go and have dinner acha eei poristithi tea mi ki korlam eei kotha ta amar bahaduri bole maaf korben ami nijeke beshi bolte chain na I started writing that I have right for a full meal so what I did amar khabar guli ooikhane giye I used to go and feed those people anyway then what I did ami eei sob khabo all road stories IQ : this is in Dhaka University AM : hmm Calcutta eei 64 saale ami fhire chole jabo ami Ki korlam ami je bahaduri bollam apnake udharon debo ami korlaam ki eei golper totho hoche amar nijer experience thike communist party r kagoj tader paper sei kagoje nanan khobor beroto ami ooi sob khobor guli bikiri kore ekta choto golper boi likhechi sei golpor boi ta I think was the best of mine. Sei boi ta somondhe amr onno ano bondhu bandhober a je sob kotha barta boleche jiboni taar kotha bolechi apnake amar obak holo I cannot believe my eyes pore tumi eei bhabe poddo ki kore korle ami obak hoye gelam ekta chotto boi sei boi ta ami eei durbhikko r chitro likhechi apni porar pore mughdo na hole ami obal hobo you will be moved and apni obak hobe IQ : this was published in Dhaka? AM : hmm, khub popular hoyechilo amar kache copy ache anyway to cut short the story ami eei durbikho upolokho kore ami ektu political activities e te join korlam etymodhe by chance ami jokhon reporter holam eei kaaje laglo eei obhigota guli kaaj e laglo aar ami bibhino boi potro porte suru korlaam eer I modhe amar chokta khullo amar bigyapon o chaplo ami dhore nilam je intermediate e physics students hishebe ami ter pelam jeta ami conscious chilam na tokhon relative IQ : relativity, theory of relativity AM the platform : the teacher told us at that time Physics class e je suppose there are two trerds in ABDUL MATIN - 1039 AM : sei boi ta porte suro korlaam aar abishkar korlaam je ja chokhe dekhechi IQ : you are talking about 2 trends AM : 2 trends of the platform and 2 trends are goindg to 2 different directions at that time what passengers are doing getting teacher told us suppose the first train is at the speed of 30 mile the other one is at 40 mile speed tah ekhon when they move of course one at 30 mile speed and the other at 40 mile that too at other direction and you study the platform you look at the train to you it seems je train ta 70 mile speed e jache ooi 40 aar 30 jog hoye jabe but the actual speed is 40 and 30 so actual aar relative eei totho ta mathei dhokar pore aro kichu din pore aro abishkar korlam that there is nothing absolute, if there is nothing absolute that God cannot be absolute if there is nothing absolute Newton er totho porlaam gravity law porlam the laws of fundamental bigyaner sei gulo jokhon porlam eer age je chokh kaan age kichu khulechilo all those aro increase korlaam so I started reading books, discussing with friends so gradually my development took place jak ekhon se baad den eei korlaam ki eei guli further develop korar chesta korlaam eei khane course kotha hoche je eei London e eshe kki labh hoylo? Desh e toh aar phire gelam na tokhon ami eei sob boi porar chesta korlam porlaam onek kichu kintu likhlaam na kichu likhlaam ki ooi newsletter likhe sohore elam, Bongo bondhu amake sanghatik betray korechilo onek gopon kotha phaas korlen eei kotha koilen politics e eshechen ki kore tokhon hottar pore eei sob toh maaf kora jabe na amra ki korte pari toh ooi kagoj ta baar kora holo toh ki orbo boi likhte likhte onek totho jaani na others I don’t kow about 14 – 15 years later I went to a holiday in Germany in those days the Chief commissioner called me my in laws were there so I used to stay with them aar amar brother in law and others so I saw whole of wetern Germany, southern germany spend korlaam, one day there was lot of rain sub urbs e so one day I went out and I thought why not record some of the thoughts Bongo Bondhu etaydi somondhe ebong hotta and military rule so why not write something about these so I thought of writing a letter but I didn’t have in mind particular addressed to the letter just in the form of a letter I wrote an article about Bongo Bondhu’s murder. When Bongo Bondhu what he told me in 72 seta er modhe likhlam aro ono kichu eikhane when I came back to London lots of this newspaper to bring out ami printed it and published it IQ : Moforshal choudhury AM : toh jai hok duto chapar pore tokhon ami pore bhablam na eeita ami further klikhi na keno why only write one thing these dishonest people those who were around and those who would have benefitted those who betrayed him and on the day he was murdered ki bhabe mritto holilo ami eei sob likhechi kichu lok er aar naam nilam na kintu bujhte parlo ke eei lok ta emon bhabe likhlaam jeno o bujhte pare 4 5 ta edition likhlaam protek edition e jara mara geche taar naam ta dhukiye dilaam er modhe 24 te ke shoot korar plan korechilo kintu kori ni because none had evidence. In the meanwhile I got this ek Barrister ke peye gelam ekhane communist party r lok famous lok se whole world e 3rd world country te political bina poisa te case korar jonno jai ekhon onar songe West Bengal communist party r there is a touch taar kotha ami pore bolbo amr kichu kotha ache onar songe joga jog hoye amar bondhu bole what sort of help I can get, apni ki bhabe help korte paren etyadi anyway all this corrections bhebe tokhon ami think korlaam je boi ta likhlaam bole ooi document gulo toiri kore jokhon amake threat korlo keno eta kora hoye ni ami pore bolchi to cut short the story tokhon ami bollam eei gulo record korte hobe tokhon first change chinta korlaam acha why don’t I write anything first things first Choudhury he contacted sarkar Kolkatai I knew that secret oita uplokho kore what I did why not write that then I had the newspaper clippings about 1000 clippings kintu tateo naam likhini ebong sob kotha ooikhane paben those stories I know, my friend bollo so I started writing that then I thought that unless I meet this Mr. Choudhury if he is satisfied he will sign taale I make this mistake so it aws difficult to contact him so he would probably not trust me who will who is this Abdul matin but somehow I managed to reach him he gave an interview he was staying in Commonwealth society tokhon ora ooi khane giye I took notes long notes nilam ooi gulo r inputs nilam ooi first ami likhlaam lekhar pore boi ta pora holo Dhaka te eei boi ta eei sob kotha bolbo na in short eei success er pore ami korlaam ki I thought why not write more tah aste aste graduation orte korte ami 90 te retire korlaam I left my job I said now I have enough time newsletter and all those things gone so amar agroho ta so I first started writing nd gradually I started writing other books. ABDUL MATIN - 1040 AM : Fazrul obak hoilo amar upore gradually I though why not write something about you so 8-10 ta boi eei sob korechi IQ : one thing lets talk about this photo, do you remember anything about AM : ini hochen Abdul Hussain er choto bhai IQ : yeah Abdul Samsuddin Hussain Waliullah AM : they become great friends pore, amar boishe boro Samshul amar ek bochor choto uni amar eder songe ami ooi potrika ta chapbo different people made them love me or like me whatever it is ami determination hobe ami sangbadik kokhono bhuli na je sangbadik has to get news item from the unwilling horse’s you will not have the job you will lose even IQ : what happenend to Salim Waliuulah, he was an ambassador to AM : no, no sono tah waliullah r porichoy bbhitore pabe ekhon tomake ektu boli ekhon je boi ta likechi ekhon je kotha likhechi one of them eer songe porichoy hoilo I mean he was In Calcutta he used to he joined The Statesman of Calcutta as a in the editorial Department then he came to Dhaka to meet a friend of Sayed Nazrul jaar kotha bollam so both of them were my friends ooi chatro jibone ami je Dhaka Intermediate college they were students of Arts and were senior than me e ooi somoi they were my friends Waliullah after having his intermediate went to Calcutta to Presidency College acha iti modhe he came to Dhaka to sayed Noiruddin aar Sayed noiruddin was a close friend of mine a very fast friend ami taar kache kritogo amar lekhai paben, eei political thinking boi potro pore etyadi border and Bangla sahityo etyadi r somondhe I got everything lot of help guide etaydi peyechi ami ora boisheo boro bidan pondit o ekhon oor songe dekha holo casually dekha holo waliullah ar songe, eti modhe one day I noticed Kolkata r Sougat potrikate o Waliullah ar ekta golpo berolo golpo ta hoche “ekti tulsi gacher kahini” eei tulsi gacher kahini ta anti communal Hindu Muslim danga ta tokhon hochilo eei danga r birudhe o golpo likhechilo so I was fully thrilled toh amio golpo likhi ami tokhon ami ki korlaam ami phire gechi eei gulo premer kahini prothom mane teen ager ra jara tah ekhon onek adorer holpo lekhar chesta korlaam then I threw that baad dao toh eei somoi aami er sathe porichito howar chesta korlam, ki korbo taar sujog pawa jai na eei somoi ami tokhon Students communist Federation party r Sorkar ere oder ekta All India counter holo Delhi te toh ora bollo Bangladesh thike tah ora bollo Bangladesh thinke 300 lok jabe tokhon United Bengal tah Kolkatar group er thike ora Dhaka te khobor pathailo je ekhaner chatro der jigesh korun we will arrange there thaka khawar byabostha korbo in fact Kolkata r theke from Calcutta we will take you there ta sob hobe toh aami bhablaam eei this is the way amar motlob kintu holo je Delhi amake dekhte hobe itihaas eita korbo seta korbo IQ : India before that AM : not before that then holo ki I did not pay my one month’s tution fee 12 taka chilo 8 taka bedhe chilo I saved that 12 taka and don’t pay the University fee pore ki kore debo jaani na eei taka niye 6 taka r ticket e Kolkata chole gelam giye oder sathe delhi gelam Delhi r thinke phire jokhon aslaam by the time I finshed amar pocket e taka chilo tokhon bekaydae pora ki kora jai tokhon Dhakae kothai thakbo dhar kore ora amar bondhu chilo kintu oder kache chaite lojja korlo ki kore or thikana jogar kore hajir hoilaam sondhe bela o amake khabar tabar dilo ta thakar pore amake bollo tumi kothai thakar bybostha korecho ta ami bollam ami toh ekhono kichu kori ni bollo toh tumi thako eeikhane tobe amader bachelor chilam aro koek jon amder boarding er toh ooikhane ami ek raat katalaam tar porer din chinta korlaam ooikhane ar thakbo na toh ki kre ekhon kemon ki bhabe anyways seikhane se dining table tea mar haate ek baar dekha hoylo porichito hoilo he was a journalist Dhakaei thake notun kore porichoy holo taar pore toh uni hotat bollen ghonta khanik kotha bolar pore by 9,o clock bollen eei dike tomra golpo koro ami ektu kaaj e jai tini chole gelen aar taar room e giye tala bondo kore dilen ami toh obak hoilaam unsocial Noiruddin bollam ki byappar ki byapaar je jano na tumi protekeyer khabar routine bhabe ghodi dike takiye thake 9 ta er theke 10 projonto tokhon laal sei boi ta se likhteche je bikhatto holo eta amar sammano contribution baad dao se sob kotha eei laal tokhon ami aro eei holo porichoy tar pore korlaam ki IQ : he was in Dhaka at that time? AM : eta partition er age IQ : Kolkata i AM : Kolkata ei IQ : These are memories from Calcutta AM : eta hoche apnar 64 saal er kotha, 1964 ami tokhon Dhake te chatro ghurte gelaam na maine na diye eei porichoy suru holo taar pore uni jokhon Dhaka aslen Mulsim chatro der modhe they were the best student of the Departent era sob civil services join ultimately ami tar modhe hoche and these people were the best boys first class first er kom keo paye na amar damn luck that all these people befriended me keno jani na jai hok I am very lucky ether khatir tar pore when he became Pakistan er chakri jokhon chole gelo bodo bodo chalri chole gelo Delhi te press holo amar sathe aar joga jog neyi onek din baade se transfer holo Delhi Germany te ekta Press Council e dekha at that time ooi German Council e chilen my first trip to Germany ta Germany te trip korar pore second day te foreogn office e pouchalam foreign office took me to their office there tokhon program dilam tokhon uni bollo lunch with Pakistani Press. ABDUL MATIN - 1041 AM : jigesha korlaam who is this, ki naam se kichui jani na tokhon but at the lunch time we went for the lunch on river er upore ekta floating restaurant ache ooi khane giye boshlaam taar pore mohila German Press Union e Deputy Director chilen se mohila amake bollen je tomar bondhu ami bujhte parlaam ami oke chintaam se bollo tomar bondhu toh officer hoeyche tomar songe pore dekha korbe taar office joruri kaaj, tokhon amar curisosity holo who is this frend? Tokhon uni bollen Sayed Waliullah eeikhane Germany ami toh jantaam na tahole toh khub khusi hobo ki kore meet korte pari bolle je bikele dekha korben Jodi na hoye or badite pouchiye debo taar soothe kotha bolo se ki bole dekho ultimately taar badite gelaam sondher somoi jawar pore tokhon taar biye hoyeche apnake boli ni biye korechilen ek German mohila ke ekta baccha ache tar songe amar porichoy holo amake khub khatir jotnno korlo taar pore onek goppo soppo holo se ratir er pore ooi German sohore trip e bibihnno sohore chole gelam then he invited me that when are you going back ami bollam ami not going back to Bangladesh, ki bolcho I will go to England and other places ekhon jai toh bollen 1 tar somoi when you complete the tour on your way back you stay with me 2 days kotha den ami toh obak hoilaam why is he insisting like that? So ami khub khusi holam mone mone, so I promised and I kept that promise I stayed last 2 days taar badi giye katalam toh this became and ebong amar kotha barta sune amar songe interaction kore I think he took interest in me taar pore eei kore kore amader er pore aro gurotoro important jokhon taar amol chilo se somoi ta uni ami kon pokhe bhebe sondeho korlo tokhon United Press kagoj tokhon hoilo ki he was transfered to Pakistan Embassy in Paris kintu eti modhe UNESCO deputy director er post was advertised there and he applied and he got the job acha ekhon jawar pore Pakistan Government IQ : During 1971 AM : UNESCO IQ : During 71, in 71 AM : na, na eta 71 er age IQ : no you were doubting his allaince AM : aami bolechi toh eei Sayed Walliullah r boi ta pore dekhben je kaar khoti korar kara chesta korechilo jai hok ekhon je kotha ta bolte chai Walliullah r importance amar jibone chilo Sayed walliullah kon pokher lok amaro janar curiosity chilo je amake eto khatir jotno korlo Paris e te eer pore dujone chiti likhtaam once in 3 months or 6 months a short letter e ki kemon acho eei important letter gulo amar kache ache, ami ki korechi preserve korechi se kotha ki kore bolbo ekhon tokhon korlaam ki ami aar other newsletters pamphlet amar onek guli pamphlet korechi onek gopon meeting hoyeche ami eei guli r report Dhaka te pathataam, in the meantime hoping suppose he will respond aar Jodi na kore tahole ki korbo tao pathiye di so he did’nt respond ta ami ki korlaam ami o tired hoye gelaam eei sob kaaj kore ami toh 18 ghonta kaaj kori office er kache amar bondhu ra eei sob kaaj kore I used to come back at 11 ‘o clock I used to have dinner in a restaurant there amae wife jigesh korlo amara ooi hane katai jai hok eei kore kore tired hoye gelaam I need a short holiday went to Germany on my way back amar stri ke bollam tomra thako eeikhane pore asbo ami Paris e Walliullah ke dekha korar jonno ami jante chai je if walliuulah is on our side toh take diye e Paris e te propaganda, publicity r jonno dorkar hobe ebong amader etaydi so I went there naturally so he said welcome aso, aso ta bollen etaydi tumi ek kaaj koro aami to embassy tea chi tumi amar sathe embassy tee she dekha korbe toh bollen Embassy ten a aami tomar sathe dekha korbo keno bollo bujhlaam na toh kothai acho ekta hotel pensioner ooikhane ache toh ooikhane uni aslen toh bollen cholo lunch e tini lunch e ekta chomotkar restaurant e niye gelen niye ekta grand style e khawa dawa holo eei kotha barta bollam tokhon Noiruddin moton kokhono friends hoite parbe then I said I have sent you regularly tini bollen thank you for that je eei guli asa korechi bohu din toh ami bollam apni joga jog korlen na tah apni to joga jog koren na toh bollen ami chakri kori eti modhe Pakistan Embassy r lok era take ooi UNESCO sac korar jonno trap korechilo sei gulo ami bolbo na ooikichu paben amar boi te toh sei poristithi te gopon e se kore na tini bollen je see wht he is doing amader ami korlaam ki make correspondent bolen jai bolen eeikhane je khobor er basha je sob khobor beroi amake pathaben amar kagoje chapbo aar uni o eei sob etaydi amake pathaben ami tokhon London thike pathataam all important coverage eei establish kore London e phire aslaam acha jaar fole kintu October mase kintu uni ekta important kaaj korlen tokhon Delhi te eei je Sarbodoyer andolon e Netaji Congree ki korchilo je in support of Bangladesh movement toh sei khane Sayed waliullah chose ja hok kotha kintu itimodhe UNESCO take phasalen take sac kore nai ghore boshe mayne dilo take transfer korlo Indonesia te lower rank e tah uni sekhane jaaben na tini ooi United Nations er ekta appeal er body ache ooi khane giye appeal korlen eei mokodoma cholchilo uncertainity r modhhe tini bollen ami Delhi te jabo amar dorkar thakar ami jete parbo apni jaben? Tah bollo ami keno jabo na ami toh tokhon amar bishesh bondhu hoilen amar sob porichoy somondho chilo tomar naam dewa hbe ami bollam na amar chakri bakri ache aar apni ekta important person ami ki contribution korbo se bollen all right thik ache kintu eei je ekhon aro onek kichu ache ekhon boli na to cut short the story ek kothai story ta ke sesh kkori seta taar stri Mary telephone korlen sokal belai telephone korlo kante kante tini bolloen je waliullah is no more ami toh my heart sank bole ki IQ : which year was this? AM : eita hoche 71 saale, tini bollen heart attack e maara gechen tokhon uni 49 50 bochor bois ami sedin khub kante kante benge porechilam he was a great friend ebong amader onek kaaj korechi pora suno onek kotha likechi tini ebong take ki bhabe Bongo Bondhu amader ki kore obichar eei sob boi te paben apni Jodi jante chan how they treated him onek onek important kotha to baad dao taar pore ektu short kore seta hocche eei je eei somoi eei rokom lok er songe porichoy howar fole amar nanan rokomer chok khuleche, bibhinno boi portaam aar ekta jinish boli amar eei je samano chinta jei tuku amar chok kan fute jawa mone kori gorbo feel kori. One of the important thing je apnake bolechi Nehru’s letter to his daughter, original family sei boi ta pori eikhane jak Communist manifesto ta age bangle ten a engraji te porlaam onek kotha boli onek boi pore ekhon ami agree kori today I will tell you je eita je pore nai aar tader educated lok bolbo na, educated and enlightenment bolbo na tobe ektu bara bari hobe even then I will kill you apni itihaser chatro apni bujhben mane amader khatar upore udiye amra kichu korbo na den confession bollen je ooi book amar chok kan aro khule dilo short story of the world eei jibone lekha boi eei boi ta porar pore bhablaam je eita na porle murkho theke jetaam porar pore gyaner bishoie bolte chai na it how the society develops the world contracts to what extent no religion Islam, christanity etaydi etyadi na thakle whole world e ami poroborti amole onnoder boi o porechi ami sudhu etyadi jaani latest from England eguli jara pore nai ora toh murkho bolbo jai hok amai samanno porechi. ABDUL MATIN - 1054 IQ : There are a lot of friends of yours in the 50’s, 40’s who wrote or who were famous writers but you started writing after a long time much later AM : In the sense amar political, social and other IQ : You also wrote short stories aste aste AM : na that was in 40’s I wrote a lot of rubbish I think there I was immature but golpo onek likechi but jai hok I did a lot of creative writing I wrote for newspapers for Azad newsletter egolo toh well on 20 years then I started writing seriously from 1984 onwards and then all those books IQ : yeah that’s what I wanted to ask you about, did you because since you were writing about something after a long time detached from your friends and colleagues, did you find yourself out of context AM : no I don’t think so I was writing but that was not creative writing I was all through writing as a journalist for newspapers mainly newletters short stories were there and journalist magazines but serious writing which later I oublished even books those were in the 80’s and so uptil I continue to write almost every year a book that’s what I did IQ : Your short stories you were inspired by the famine, victimization AM : it was there in my consciousness about social evolution and mankinds place and women consciousness about ones rights individual rights ideas lots of things the books I mentioned Nehru’s book letter to his daughter and then Original family these are the books which made me open up myself and then I started thinking about writing about it and my father influenced me by saying that indirectly he was not telling me anything but to believe in religion and other things nothing like that but he told me that be serious rational argue and all those things made me mane open up a bit gradually when I discovered those books read them and then I thought about society about politics people and all those things that I thought in the beginning if everything is strategy in society and then I decided nothing is static and then when science told me and relative things what you see may not be the truth if you have in mind you will find that one as far as I remember I told you the story about human eyes what you say may in reality you don’t see that way you see the leg is up and head is down I told that story so that means I became conscious about it what you see there not that you reject it or find any scientific explanation what you are seeing is the which can be reasonably expected and normal that is why absolute so that of course gave me the idea your scientific ideas and thoughts as for example you probably know ether does not exsist but without each other but that is accepted so these are the sort of thoughts tried to then I thought to open up with these thoughts and ideas relating people and other what causes these things and what happens what could have happened or should have happened these arguments so to get to the conclusion for the time being because I was expecting so I was thinking these would so I may have to change my views and other new discoveries and new other scientific and other ways so that is how I grew up.
