{{Short description|Bangladeshi playwriter}} {{EngvarB|date=August 2014}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2014}} {{Infobox person | name = Munier Choudhury | native_name = মুনীর চৌধুরী | native_name_lang = bn | image = Munier_Chowdhury.jpg | birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1925|11|27}} | birth_place = Manikganj, Bengal, British India | death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1971|12|14|1925|11|25}} | death_place = Mohammadpur, Dhaka, Bangladesh | alma_mater = Aligarh Muslim University <br/> University of Dhaka <br/> Harvard University | education = MA (linguistics) | awards = full list | children = {{Hlist|Ahmed|Ashfaque|Asif}} | relatives = Ferdousi Mazumder (sister) <br/> Kabir Chowdhury (brother) <br /> Ashfaque Munier (son) | known_for = Inventor of Bengali input methods<br />Martyred Intellectual }} '''Abu Naeem Mohammad Munier Choudhury''' (27 November 1925{{snd}}14 December 1971) was a Bangladeshi educationist, playwright, literary critic and political dissident.<ref name=bpedia>{{cite Banglapedia|author=Hayat, Anupam |article=Chowdhury, Munier}}</ref><ref name=DailyStarIntel>{{cite news|title=Profiles of martyred intellectuals|url=http://archive.thedailystar.net/suppliments/2006/december/december14th/intellectuals.htm|access-date=7 November 2013|newspaper=The Daily Star|date=14 December 2006|archive-date=3 December 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203062204/http://archive.thedailystar.net/suppliments/2006/december/december14th/intellectuals.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> He was a victim of the mass killing of Bangladeshi intellectuals in 1971.
==Early life and education== left|thumb|Chowdhury and his wife Lily Choudhury's ancestors were originated from Chatkhil, Noakhali.<ref name=DailyStarIntel/> He was born on 27 November 1925 in Manikganj.<ref name=bpedia/> His father was Khan Bahadur Abdul Halim Chowdhury, a district magistrate and Aligarh Muslim University graduate.<ref name=bpedia/><ref name=kabir/> His mother was Umme Kabir Afia Begum (d. 2000).<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://archive.thedailystar.net/2005/12/14/d51214090381.htm|title=Homage To Our Martyred Intellectuals - Shaheed Munier Chowdhury - Remembering my brother|work=The Daily Star|date=14 December 2005|access-date=20 October 2017}}</ref><ref name=glimpse/> Because of his father's official assignment, Choudhury lived in Manikganj, Pirojpur and other parts of East Bengal.<ref name=kabir/> The family moved to Dhaka permanently in 1936.<ref name=kabir>{{Cite news|url=https://arts.bdnews24.com/?p=2614|script-title=bn:কবীর চৌধুরীর সঙ্গে আলাপ|trans-title=Conversation with Kabir Choudhury|date=23 January 2010|work=bdnews24.com|access-date=20 October 2017|language=bn}}</ref> Then he grew up in the residence ''Darul Afia'', named after her mother, among 14 siblings.<ref name=glimpse/> He completed his matriculation from Dhaka Collegiate School in 1941 and intermediate examination from Aligarh Muslim University.<ref name=bpedia/> He then studied English literature for his bachelor's degree (with honours) in 1946 and master's in 1947 at the University of Dhaka. He was expelled from Salimullah Hall, his residential dorm, because of his involvement in leftist politics.<ref name=lost/> He was imprisoned for two years in 1952 for his participation in the Bengali language movement.<ref name= lest/> While in jail, in 1954, he appeared at the master's examination in Bengali literature and stood first in the first class.<ref>{{cite web |last=Chowdhury |first=Kabir |date=14 December 2003 |title=Remembering Munier Chowdhury |url=http://www.muktadhara.net/intel.html |work=The New Age |publisher=Muktadhara |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130618215438/http://muktadhara.net/intel.html |archive-date=18 June 2013 |access-date=7 November 2013}}</ref> Later, in 1958, he obtained his third master's degree in linguistics from Harvard University.<ref name=bpedia/>
==Academic career== In 1947, Choudhury started his career in teaching at Brajalal College in Khulna.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thedailystar.net/news-detail-192108|title=Shaheed Munier Chowdhury Remembered|date=30 June 2011|work=The Daily Star|access-date=20 October 2017|language=en}}</ref> He moved to Jagannath College in Dhaka in 1950.<ref name=bpedia/> He joined the University of Dhaka later that same year and taught both in the departments of English and Bengali until 1971.<ref name=bpedia/> He became reader in 1962 and professor in 1970 and the dean of the faculty of arts in 1971.<ref name=DailyStarIntel/><ref name=tribute>{{cite news|last=Chowdhury|first=Shamsher|title=A tribute to Munier Choudhury|url=https://archive.thedailystar.net/suppliments/2006/december/december14th/munier.htm|access-date=7 November 2013|newspaper=The Daily Star|date=14 December 2006}}</ref><ref name=lest>{{cite news |url=https://archive.thedailystar.net/2003/12/15/d312151503106.htm|title=Lest we forget Prof Munier Choudhury|newspaper=The Daily Star|access-date=13 October 2017|first=Shamsher|last=Choudhury}}</ref>
==Political activity== Choudhury was associated with leftist politics and progressive cultural movements.<ref name=bpedia/> In 1948, he attended the Communist Party Conference in Kolkata. He was elected Secretary of the ''"Progoti Lekhok O Shilpi Songho"'' (Progressive Writers and Artists Association).<ref name=bpedia/> In 1952, he was arrested under the Preventive Detention Act for protesting against police repression and the killing of students on the Language Movement. In 1967, he protested the Pakistan government's ban on Tagore songs on radio and television. In the early 1950s, there was a movement in Pakistan to replace the Bengali language alphabet with the Arabic alphabet. As a linguist and writer, Choudhury protested this move to undermine the native language of East Pakistan. He actively participated in the non-co-operation movement during the early part of 1971 and renounced his award ''Sitara-e-Imtiaz'', awarded by the government of Pakistan in 1966.<ref name=bpedia/>
==Literary works== During his imprisonment in 1952–54, he wrote his symbolic drama on the historic language movement, ''Kabar'' (''The Grave'').<ref name=tribute/> He continued to write after being freed from prison, some of his notable works being ''Roktakto Prantor'' (1959; a play about the Third Battle of Panipat), ''Chithi'' (1966) and ''Polashi Barrack O Onyanno'' (1969).<ref name=lost/> In 1965, Choudhury redesigned the keyboard of the Bangla typewriter, named ''Munier Optima Keyboard'' in collaboration with Remington typewriters of the then East Germany.<ref name=lost>{{cite news|url=https://www.thedailystar.net/what-weve-lost-2203|title=What We've Lost|date=13 December 2013|work=The Daily Star|access-date=19 October 2017|language=en}}</ref>
* ''Mir-Manas'', 1965 – literary critique of Mir Mosharraf Hossain's literature * ''Ektala-Dotala'' (first ever Bengali drama telecast on television), 1965<ref name=tribute/> * ''Dandakaranya'', 1966 * ''Tulanamulak Samalochana'' (Comparative critique), 1969 * ''Bangla Gadyariti'' (Bengali literary style), 1970
==Awards== * Bangla Academy Literary Award (1962) * Daud Prize (1965) * Sitara-i-Imtiaz (denounced, 1966) * Independence Day Award (posthumously, 1980) * Bangladesh Mujibnagar Staff Welfare Association Commemoration (posthumously, 1992) * Language Activist and Political Prisoner Council Commemoration (posthumously, 1993) * Liberation War Teachers' Council Commemoration (posthumously, 1996) * Dhaka University Alumni Association Commemoration (posthumously, 2018) * Dhaka Metropolitan Police Commemoration (posthumously, 2019)
==Death== After the Pakistani army crackdown in 1971 in the University of Dhaka area from which Chowdhury escaped like many, he moved to his parents' house, near Hatirpool.<ref name=DailyStarIntel/> On 14 December 1971, he, along with a large number of Bengali intellectuals, educators, doctors and engineers, were kidnapped from their houses and later tortured and executed by the Pakistan Army and its Bengali collaborators Al-Badr and Al-Shams. According to a witness, Choudhury was last seen in Physical Training College in Mohammadpur Thana, Dhaka where his fingers were mutilated.<ref>{{cite news|last=Akhtar|first=Shameem|title=A tribute to our martyred intellectuals|url=https://www.thedailystar.net/news/a-tribute-to-our-martyred-intellectuals|access-date=31 December 2013|newspaper=The Daily Star|date=14 December 2013}}</ref> His dead body could not be identified.<ref name=DailyStarIntel/>
On 18 July 2013, Asif Munier Chowdhury Tonmoy, a son of Choudhury, made the statement before the International Crimes Tribunal-2.<ref name=tonmoy/> According to his testimony, Chowdhury Mueen-Uddin, a Muslim leader based in London, and Ashrafuz Zaman Khan, based in the United States, were directly involved in abduction, forced disappearance and killing of Choudhury.<ref name=tonmoy>{{Cite news |url=https://bdnews24.com/politics/ashraf-mueen-abducted-munier|title=Ashraf, Mueen abducted Munier|work=bdnews24.com|date=19 July 2013 |access-date=20 October 2017}}</ref> On 3 November, the same year, both of them were sentenced in absentia after the court found that they were involved in the abduction and murders of 18 people – nine Dhaka University teachers including Choudhury, six journalists and three physicians – in December 1971.<ref name=Independent1>{{cite news|last=Chowdhury|first=Syed Tashfin|title=UK Muslim leader Chowdhury Mueen Uddin sentenced to death in Bangladesh|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/uk-muslim-leader-chowdhury-mueen-uddin-sentenced-to-death-in-bangladesh-8919895.html|access-date=7 November 2013|newspaper=The Independent|date=3 November 2013}}</ref> {{more|1971 killing of Bengali intellectuals}}
==Personal life== thumb|right|Choudhury with his wife Lily (1957) Choudhury was married to Lily Choudhury (1928–2021).<ref>{{Cite news |date=2 March 2021 |title=Lily Chowdhury laid to rest |url=https://archive.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/2021/03/02/lily-chowdhury-laid-to-rest |access-date=18 June 2023 |work=Dhaka Tribune}}</ref><ref name=glimpse>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thedailystar.net/in-focus/munier-chowdhury-personal-glimpses-1320649|title=Munier Chowdhury: Personal Glimpses|date=26 November 2016|work=The Daily Star|access-date=19 October 2017|language=en}}</ref> Together, they had three sons, Ahmed Munier, Ashfaque Munier (Mishuk) (1959-2011) and Asif Munier (born 1967). Ashfaq was a cinematographer. Ahmed is retired and previously worked for UN missions in Africa. Asif is a human rights activist and works in the development sector. He was a founder member of ''Projonmo Ekattor'', a human rights group.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.observerbd.com/details.php?id=45474|title=An intrepid writer: A requiem for Munier Chowdhury |work=The Daily Observer|access-date=19 October 2017|date=27 October 2016|first=Iftakhair|last=Hossen}}</ref>
Choudhury's notable siblings include actress Ferdousi Mazumder, National Professor Kabir Chowdhury (1923–2011), columnist Shamsher Choudhury (d. 2012), language activist Nadera Begum (d. 2013) and the first Bengali Cadet to be awarded ''Sword of Honour'' at Pakistan Military Academy, Lt. Colonel Abdul Qayyum Chowdhury (died 2013).<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hamid |first=Major General Syed Ali |date=November 6, 2020 |title=Remembering Colonel Abdul Qayyum |url=https://www.thefridaytimes.com/2020/11/06/remembering-colonel-abdul-qayyum/ |access-date=February 16, 2023 |work=The Friday Times}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thedailystar.net/news-detail-232275|title=Shamsher Chowdhury|date=30 April 2012|work=The Daily Star|access-date=20 October 2017|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://bdnews24.com/bangladesh/2013/04/13/language-activist-nadera-begum-passes-away|title=Language activist Nadera Begum passes away|date=13 April 2013|work=bdnews24.com|access-date=20 October 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.dhakatribune.com/feature/people-feature/2019/04/14/remembering-nadera-begum-on-her-death-anniversary|title=Remembering Nadera Begum on her death anniversary|date=14 April 2019|work=Dhaka Tribune|access-date=8 March 2020}}</ref> Another sister, Rahela Banu, is married to Shawkat Hussain, a former professor of English at the University of Dhaka.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The day they took my brother away |url=https://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/317187/the-day-they-took-my-brother-away |access-date=2026-04-11 |date=2021-12-14|work=Dhaka Tribune |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The Spirit of Shaheed Munier Chowdhury|url=https://www.thedailystar.net/ds/slow-reads-special/news/spirit-shaheed-munier-chowdhury-4057541 |access-date=2026-04-11 |work=The Daily Star|language=en}}</ref>
==Legacy== Since 1989, a Bangladeshi theater troupe named ''Theatre'' has been conferring theater personalities for their contribution to the performing art form with ''Munier Chowdhury Shammanona'' award.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thedailystar.net/news-detail-65386|title=Shaheed Munier Chowdhury birth anniversary celebrated|date=29 November 2008|work=The Daily Star|access-date=19 October 2017|language=en}}</ref> Bangla Academy confers ''Shaheed Munier Choudhury Memorial Award'' to book publishing houses for the merit of quality of printing and aesthetic values.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://banglaacademy.org.bd/english/?page_id=145 |title=Awards |website=Bangla Academy |access-date=20 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170630195248/http://banglaacademy.org.bd/english/?page_id=145 |archive-date=30 June 2017}}</ref> Central Road, the street in Dhaka where Choudhury lived, was renamed to ''Shaheed Munier Chowdhury Road''.<ref name=glimpse/> In 1991, on the 20th anniversary of Bangladesh's independence, the government issued a commemorative stamp featuring Choudhury.<ref name=lost/>
On 27 November 2020, Google celebrated his 95th birthday with a Google Doodle.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://doodles.google/doodle/munier-chowdhurys-95th-birthday/ |title=Munier Chowdhury's 95th Birthday |website=Google |date=27 November 2020 }}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist|30em}}
{{Bengali theatre}} {{1971 Bangladesh genocide}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Choudhury, Munier}} Category:1925 births Category:1971 deaths Category:Bangladeshi dramatists and playwrights Category:Bangladeshi male novelists Category:20th-century Bangladeshi novelists Category:20th-century dramatists and playwrights Category:University of Dhaka alumni Category:Aligarh Muslim University alumni Category:Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni Category:Academic staff of the University of Dhaka Category:Pakistani torture victims Category:People murdered in Bangladesh Category:Recipients of the Independence Award Category:Recipients of the Bangla Academy Award Category:Recipients of Sitara-i-Imtiaz Category:20th-century Bangladeshi male writers Category:Bangladeshi textbook writers Category:People from Chatkhil Upazila Category:Dhaka Collegiate School alumni Category:Brajalal College alumni Category:People from Manikganj District Category:Writers from Khulna