The Unfinished Memoirs

The Unfinished Memoirs
First edition
AuthorSheikh Mujibur Rahman
Sheikh Hasina (Preface)
Original titleঅসমাপ্ত আত্মজীবনী
(Asamapta Atmajibanee)
TranslatorFakrul Alam
Cover artistQayyum Chowdhury
(the original Bengali version)
LanguageOriginal : Bengali
SeriesBangabandhu
GenreMemoir, Autobiography
PublisherThe University Press Limited, Penguin Books and Oxford University Press
Publication date
12 June 2012; 12 years ago (2012-06-12)
Publication placeBangladesh, India and Pakistan
Pages323
ISBN9789845061100
Followed byThe Prison Diaries 

The Unfinished Memoirs (Bengali: অসমাপ্ত আত্মজীবনী) is the autobiography by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Father of the nations of Bangladesh.

Background

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Photograph of a page from The manuscript.

[1] Inspired by his wife, Fazilatunnesa Mujib, Mujib started writing his autobiography in his notebooks during his sojourns in jail as a state prisoner between 1967 and 1969.[2] [3] Later Mujib gave the notebooks to Moni to prepare a typed copy. But after the assassination of Sheikh Mujib and Sheikh Fazlul Haq Moni, the notebooks slid in oblivion and remained so until one of his relatives discovered four notebooks in a drawer of Sheikh Moni in 2004.[4] By then, the notebooks' pages had become discolored and brittle.[citation needed]

The contents of the notebook were extracted by Sheikh Hasina, along with Sheikh Rehana and Baby Maudud. The compiled notes were published as a book on 12 June 2012 by The University Press Limited. [5] The book was named by Rehana and prefaced by Hasina.[6] It has since been translated into fourteen languages. On 7 October 2020, a braille version of the book was released.[7]

Content

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In his memoirs, Mujib portrayed vividly many aspects of his life in and out of prison. Mujib also narrated the beginning of his ancestry, birth and childhood, days in school and college, and social and political involvements.[8] Mujib also recounted the historical events that he closely observed as a political activist before and after the India partition – famine, communal riots in Kolkata and Bihar, partition, politics of Kolkata-centric State Muslim Student League and Muslim League, Pakistan central government's discriminatory attitude.[9][10] It also chronicles Bengali language movement, the first stirrings of the movement for autonomy and independence, and powerfully conveys the great uncertainties as well as the great hopes that the Bengali nation had at that time. Mujib expressed his views on other prominent leaders of the time, including Maulana Bhashani, Yar Mohammad Khan, Mahatma Gandhi, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Liaquat Ali Khan, Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, A.K. Fazlul Haq, Abul Hashim, Khawaja Nazimuddin, Ghulam Muhammad, Mohammad Ali Bogra, Chaudhury Muhammad Ali, and Nurul Amin.[11] The last part portrays the events accompanying the struggle for democratic rights in 1955.

Reception

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The Hindustan Times expressed some dissatisfaction over its unfinished status and wished the book could have had more information on the Bangladesh Liberation War instead of ending much sooner in the 1950s.[12] The Prothom Alo wrote that shows the making of Bangabandhu.[13] The Wire wrote that it portrayed the life of early Bangladesh as it portrayed the life of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.[14]

References

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  1. ^ "The Unfinished Memoirs". Penguin Books India. Retrieved 12 September 2012.
  2. ^ "The Unfinished Memoirs". Penguin Books India. Archived from the original on 23 August 2012. Retrieved 12 September 2012.
  3. ^ "The Unfinished Memoirs". The University Press Limited. Archived from the original on 5 May 2024. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
  4. ^ "Bangabandhu's autobiography launched". The Independent. Dhaka. 20 June 2012. Archived from the original on 20 February 2014. Retrieved 12 September 2012.
  5. ^ "অসমাপ্ত আত্মজীবনী". The University Press Limited. Archived from the original on 5 May 2024. Retrieved 3 February 2024.
  6. ^ বঙ্গবন্ধুর ‘অসমাপ্ত আত্মজীবনী’ জাতিকে ইতিহাস বিকৃতি থেকে রক্ষা করেছে: প্রধানমন্ত্রী. Bangla Tribune (in Bengali). Retrieved 19 October 2020.
  7. ^ বঙ্গবন্ধুর অসমাপ্ত আত্মজীবনীর ব্রেইল সংস্করণের মোড়ক উন্মোচন. banglanews24.com (in Bengali). 7 October 2020. Archived from the original on 10 October 2020. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
  8. ^ "Autobiography launches today". The Daily Star. Dhaka. 18 June 2012. Archived from the original on 18 June 2012. Retrieved 12 September 2012.
  9. ^ "Mujib's unfinished autobiography hits stands Monday". bdnews24.com. Dhaka. 17 June 2012. Archived from the original on 2 July 2012. Retrieved 12 September 2012.
  10. ^ "Autobiography of Mujibur handed over to Hasina". Gulf Times. 21 June 2012. Retrieved 12 September 2012.
  11. ^ "The Oxford Update July - September 2012" (PDF). Oxford University Press. Archived (PDF) from the original on 4 February 2014. Retrieved 13 September 2012.
  12. ^ "Review: The Unfinished Memoirs: Sheikh Mujibur Rahman". Hindustan Times. 18 August 2012. Retrieved 16 December 2022.
  13. ^ "Insights from The Unfinished Memoirs". Prothom Alo. Archived from the original on 16 December 2022. Retrieved 16 December 2022.
  14. ^ "Lessons for Today's Bangladesh in the Unfinished Memoir of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman". The Wire. Retrieved 16 December 2022.
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