High Commission of India

Dhaka 

Press Release 

IGCC organises a lecture by Dr. Ghulam Murshid, eminent writer of Bangladesh, on ‘Banglar Sangskritir Boishishtho’ at Kabi Sufia Kamal Auditorium, Bangladesh National Museum, Shahbagh, Dhaka at 6.30 PM on 26 November, 2017 

​​            Indira Gandhi Culture Centre is organising a lecture by Dr. Ghulam Murshid, eminent writer of Bangladesh, on ‘Banglar Sangskritir Boishishtho’ at Kabi Sufia Kamal Auditorium, Bangladesh National Museum, Shahbagh, Dhaka at 6.30 PM on 26 November, 2017.

            Dr. Ghulam Murshid is a well known scholar, researcher and author of Bangladesh based in London. He started his working life as a university teacher and later worked as a BBC journalist. He is the author of a number of well-known, pathbreaking studies and has published more than twenty books from Bangladesh, India and UK. He writes both in Bengali and English and has a unique lucid style of writing that distinguishes him from many other leading authors in South Asia. 

            Dr. Murshid’s main areas of research are women studies, Bengali socio-cultural history, Bengali prose and Bengali literature (particularly that of Michael Madhusudan Dutt, Rabindranath Tagore and Nazrul Islam). One of his first books, ‘Reluctant Debutant: Response of Bengali Women to Modernization’ (1982) was considered a pioneering work on South Asian women and was widely reviewed in international journals. He has published four books on Michael Madhusudan Dutt, including two from Oxford University Press. His Bengali biography of Michael Madhusudan Dutt, called ‘Ashar Chhalone Bhuli’ (1995), was recognized as a milestone in the Bengali biographical literature.

            His book on the independence of Bangladesh, ‘Muktijuddha O Tarpor’, has been widely recognized as the most objective and authoritative account of the independence of the country. According to reviewers the book does credit to the country and takes every Bengali back to the age of idealism and struggle that once upheld a cause.

            Dr. Murshid edited the largest Bengali dictionary, called ‘Bibartonmulak Bangla Abhidhan’, published a few years ago by the Bangla Academy. In the two hundred year old history of Bengali dictionaries, it is the first one based on historical principles. It provides the evolution of the form and meaning of each and every word, and traces the first use thereof in written Bengali. Recently he has written another biography of Kazi Nazrul Islam. His book on the history of Bengali culture, called ‘Hazar Bachhorer Bangali Samskriti’, is perhaps one of the most widely read works of Bengali non-fiction. The English version of the book is expected to come out this month from New Delhi, India. 

            Dr. Murshid has received a number of top literary awards from both India and Bangladesh including the Bangla Academy Literary Award given by the Bangla Academy of Bangladesh. He is currently a research associate with the Department of Language and Culture of South Asia at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, and an occasional commentator for the Voice of America. 

            All are cordially invited to attend the programme. Entry is open to all (there is no need to collect Invitation Pass).

Dhaka,
November 20, 2017

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