“Chittagong, it should bee noted, is one of the oldest ports of the sub-continent, older than Calcutta, Mumbai and Chennai. “
Professor Dr. Anupam Sen
Vice Chancellor,
Premier University, Chittagong
Professor Dr. Anupam Sen is the son of Late Snehalata Sen and Late Birendra Lal Sen M.A. (English), B.L. He completed his Masters in Sociology from the University of Dhaka in 1963 and PhD in the same subject from McMaster University, Canada in 1979. Dr. Sen has been holding the position of Vice Chancellor at Premier University in Chittagong since the 1st of October, 2006. He was a former Fellow (Honorary) at the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies, Dhaka; a former Director in the Board of Directors of Bangladesh Bank; a former Director at the Institute of Bangladesh Studies in Rajshahi University and a life Member of Bangiya Sahitya Parishad, Kolkata. He was awarded Ekushe Padak in Education in 2013. Dr. Sen is renowned for his secular thoughts and is a keen observer of the trends our society goes through.
Sociologically Chittagong people are different from the people from other regions in Bangladesh. What’s your take on this?
The city is surrounded by the seas and mountains. It is unique because of its panoramic natural beauty. It is said that the alluvial plates that accommodate the Dhaka-Faridpur region are some 10,000 to 50,000 years old. However, the geology of Chittagong and its surrounding regions took a few hundred thousand years to form.
If we look at the development of Islam in this area it is quite different from that in other areas of the subcontinent. The Sufis who came to this region were known as “Baro Aulias” and had contributed a lot to the formation of a non-communal society through their love and preaching. Religion came here to preach love and affection. There was a thriving Buddhist culture in Chittagong as well. We even had a Buddhist University called Pundit Bihar. Though Chittagong is blessed with diversity of religious cultures, it enjoys religious harmony. The earliest form of Bengali language can be traced to Bauddha Charyya and Doha songs which were discovered in Nepal A few Charyya songs were composed by Chittagong poets, such as Kanhappa and Harippa. The dialect used in Chittagong is different from those in Dhaka, Sylhet and North Bengal. The reason is Chittagong’s proximity to Mianmar’s Arakan and its impact on the culture of Chittagong. The Royal Court of Arakan provided shelter to Bengal pacts. Padmavati was written here by the great medieval poet Alawol. The governors of Chittagong Division Chuti Khan and Pargal Khan encouraged development of Bengali literature. Srikar Nandy of Chittagong translated the Epic Mahabharata which is known as Paragali Mahabharat.
In 1498 Vasco-Da-Gama reached Cochcin. The Portuguese reached Chittagong in the early sixteenth century. They liked Chittagong port. They referred to Chittagong as a Grand Port. For a brief period Chittagong and its adjacent areas were occupied by the Portuguese and Mogs. A Portuguese pirate Gozalves took conrol of the big island Sandwip. Chittagong was reconquered by the Maghuls and the Portuguese pirates were driven out in the mid seventeenth century. A big section of the native populations was, however, converted to Catholic Charch. Many of them who lived in Feeringhee Bazar and Patharghata areas of Chittagong City left for Canada and Australia during the sixties and seventies of the last century.
Chittagong, it should bee noted, is one of the oldest ports of the sub-continent, older than Calcutta, Mumbai and Chennai. It was visited by Marco-Polo and Ibn-Batuta.
Q It is interesting that the anti-British armed struggle as well as the Bangladesh liberation struggle, both formally started in Chittagong. What are your comments on this?
The anti-British struggle in Chittagong started in 1930 when Surya Sen raided the British armory and freed Chittagong of British control for three days. The British fled and took shelter on their boats in the sea. One of Surya Sen’s followers, Pritilata Waddedar, raided the European Club in 1934. She is hailed as the Joan of Arc of the subcontinent as she is the first woman to become a martyr for the freedom of the people.
As for our Liberation War struggles, I was very active in the 1969 mass upsurge; I was a Lecturer of Dhaka University from 1966 to 1968. I joined Chittagong University in 1969 as an Assistant Professor. In January, 71 I became the General Secretary of Chittagong University Teachers’ Association. The Teachers’ Association organized a nonstop agitational programme at Laldighi Moidan from March 17 to 23 for the rights of Bengalees. Dr. Kamal A Khan, Chief Medical officer at Port Hospital who was a very cultured man helped us a lot; Prof. Maomtaz Uddin Ahmed, now the cultural attachee of Bangladesh Mission at New Work was with us. We shifted the agitation on 24 March at Parade ground. There we learnt that the arms and ammunitions were being unloaded from the Swat Ship. The people spontaneously resisted the unloading of arms. On March 25 people made a blockade on Agrabad
Road to resist movement of arms and ammunitions. Major Rafique played an important role on March 26 to encircle Chittagong Cantonment assisted by revolting Bengal EPRs who came out to join the struggle of independence. Chittagong city remained free till March 30.
Q What is your take on the globalization, education and transformation of the society in Chittagong?
There are 700,000 students who are studying in private universities now. I am now associated with the Premier University which is also a private university. It was started in 2000 and now it has 200 crores of assets from the campus building to the 6000 computers the students can use. We also have strong IT and Architecture departments.
For our country to reach the global level it is essential that we emphasize on improving skill development and education. We have to worry about the language learning state of our students. They must improve their English but not at the expense of their Bangla language skills. The new generation has a better grasp of English and they understand and accept the fact that it is required in this new interconnected world we have.
What I have also observed is the reduced respect and apathy people have for each other nowadays. This alienation has become quite visible over time. There is also the “Quick rich” mentality of the entrepreneurs; even if their business get a 15-17% return, they will still covet a 30-40% return.
The society and politics of Chittagong is very diverse. We see here extreme liberal and rightist forces co-existing.
