'Sardar' at the Top of Merit

Today (June 15) is the death day of Sardar Fazlul Karim, a philosopher, academician, writer, and essayist. He died on this day in 2014 at the age of 69 while undergoing treatment at Shamarita Hospital in Dhaka.

Sardar Fazlul Karim was born in a poor family in Atipara village of Barisal. His father Khabiruddin Sardar was a farmer. Mother Safura Begum was a housewife. Every morning he would eat panta and run to the field with a plow to help his father. He himself wrote, ‘The farmer’s child has no future!’

But coming from that poor peasant family, Sardar Fazlul Karim became the wise man of the time, the proverbial teacher, the best philosopher of the country. He also became a professor in the Department of Philosophy and Political Science at Dhaka University and became a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan.

Sardar Fazlul Karim completed his primary education from a school in the village and passed secondary from Barisal College with a place in the merit list. After passing higher secondary from Dhaka College, he secured first-class first in the undergraduate and postgraduate in philosophy from Dhaka University.

He wrote, "my parents were illiterate and very poor. People like them weren't supposed to send me to school. But they sent me to school. That is why I am indebted to the people of this land and I have a devotion to the soil of this country."

In his student life he joined the Communist Party inspired by the idea of ​​equality. He did not hesitate to leave his university teaching job to pursue an uncertain life in order to devote time to party work. Although he got a scholarship for higher education abroad, he did not go under the direction of the party.

After the establishment of Pakistan, a hostile time was created for the communists. Prison-hiding was then the constant companion of the communists. Sardar Fazlul Karim was not out of that circle either. He was arrested and released in March 1955 after serving 5 years in a row. He was also a member of the Pakistan People's Assembly from 1956 until the imposition of martial law on Ayub Khan in 1958. He was arrested during the military rule in 1958 and released in December 1972. From 1963 to 1971 he was the Principal of the Department of Culture, Bangla Academy. He had to stay in jail for a few months during the war of liberation. 

He joined Dhaka University in 1972 as a teacher in the Department of Political Science and taught till his retirement in 1985. He has written many books, including Philosophy Cell. He has translated several world-class books on philosophy. He has written some outstanding memoirs including 'Dhaka of the Forties'. He also regularly wrote for various national dailies on various contemporary issues.

Born on May Day (born May 1, 1925), he dedicated himself to the struggle for the liberation of working people. His whole life was a sacrifice. He was vocal against lifelong exploitation and deprivation. On the one hand, the vow was to spread the light of knowledge, on the other hand, it was a relentless effort to establish the rights of ordinary working people.

He was a very thoughtful and determined man with a simple look. Those who have come near him know that Sardar Fazlul Karim is an exceptional man who is free from greed but full of richness in the world of thought. He had the courage to reject any offer of personal pleasure.