Rashid Askari Explained

Harun-Ur-Rashid Askari
Native Name:রাশিদ আসকারী
Birth Date:1965 6, df=yes
Birth Place:Rangpur, East Pakistan, Pakistan
Nationality:Bangladeshi
Office:Director General of Bangla Academy
Term Start:18 July 2024
Term End:10 August 2024
Predecessor:Mohammad Nurul Huda
Office1:12th Vice-Chancellor of Islamic University, Bangladesh
Term Start1:21 August 2016
Term End1:20 August 2020
Predecessor1:Abdul Hakim Sarkar
Successor1:Shaikh Abdus Salam
Occupation:Writer, fictionist, columnist, university academic, media personality
Signature:রাশিদ আসকারীর স্বাক্ষর.png

Harun-Ur-Rashid Askari (born 1 June 1965), known as Rashid Askari, is a writer, columnist, media personality, and an academic in Bangladesh.[1] He was the 12th vice-chancellor of Islamic University, Bangladesh.[2] He served as the Director General of the Bangla Academy for less than a month in 2024.[3] [4] [5] Among post-1990s Bangladeshi writers, He is easily on par with the major ones who gained identical and impressive mastery over both Bangla and English.

Early life and education

Rashid Askari was born in Askarpur, Mithapukur, Rangpur in former East Pakistan in 1965. He passed the secondary school certificate examinations and higher secondary certificate examinations in 1980 and 1982. He has obtained Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees in English from Dhaka University with distinction, and a PhD in Indian English Literature from the University of Poona".[6]

Career

Askari joined as a lecturer in English at Islamic University, Bangladesh in 1990. He became promoted as Head of the English department and professor in 2005 and promoted to the position of the dean of the Faculty of Arts.[7] He served with King Khalid University - the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as a professor of English for five years (2008-2013). His debut as a writer was marked in 1996 by his book The Dying Homeland. He has also written a large number of articles, essays and newspaper columns on a great variety of themes ranging from national to international and colonial to postcolonial, which have been published at home and abroad".[8] He is the editor of Bangladesh's first multilingual international literary magazine, The Archer.[9] He was elected the Secretary General of Federation of Bangladesh University Teachers' Association for 2014.[10] He was also elected chairman of folklore studies department of the Islamic University in Kushtia".[11] Rashid Askari has been nominated as a part-time member of the University Grants Commission of Bangladesh (UGC).[12] He is working as a member of the international publication and translation sub-committee under "Bangabandhu's Birth Centenary Celebration National Implementation Committee" [13] and translated Sheikh Mujib's 10 January speech delivered at the Race Course into English.[14] He also translated in English Sheikh Mujib's UN speech on 25 September 1974.[15]

He is a peer reviewer and a Quality Assurance (QA) expert nominated by the Quality Assurance Unit of the Government of Bangladesh.[16] "Askari regularly writes columns in various newspapers". "The areas of his academic interest include Modern and Postmodern Fiction, Colonial and Postcolonial Literature, South-Asian Writing in English, Literary Theories and Creative Writing".[17] In the recent past "Askari has been accorded gold medal for his contribution to advancement of education sector" in Bangladesh.[18] [19] He has also received "Janonetri Sheikh Hasina Award 2019" for his outstanding contribution to education sector,[20] and "won the Dhaka University Alumni News Award 2020".[21]

Writing style

Askari had a flair for creative writing since his school days.[22] An unsigned profile in The Kushtia Times stated that Askari writes "both Bengali and English with equal ease and efficiency".[23] Bangladeshi novelist and critic Syed Manzoorul Islam notes:

Askari has demonstrated enough artistic talent to come up with fiction in English, which must be a source of inspiration for many of us".[24] In his short story collection Nineteen Seventy One and Other Stories(2011) "Rashid Askari speaks of a long-ago war, revisiting the age of brutality we emerged free of through beating back the denizens of darkness".[25] "The book contains a dozen of mind-blowing stories mostly based on realistic events that took place either in faraway villages or the bustling metropolis in Bangladesh. However, the regional fictional representation does not evade universal significance."[26] The book has been translated into French Language and also into Hindi".[27] His short story "Virus" was published in the Daily Suns Eid Special 2017 and "A slice of sky" has been published in the Contemporary Literary Review India (CLRI), a peer-reviewed, internationally refereed and high impact factor journal.[28] Askari wrote the intellectual biography of the country's founding president Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman,  which is "based on authentic background information, factual accounts of events, historical research and clear elegant prose".[29] He edited the English version of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's book My Father, My Bangladesh published in Amar Ekushey Book Fair 2021.[30] "Sharp and minute detailed description of human behavior, and pictorial presentation of events and settings in his carefully chosen words demonstrate Rashid Askari's mastery in story writing/telling," says the President of the International Consortium for Social Development and Professor of Social Work at Charles Sturt University, NSW, Australia, Manohar Pawar.[31] "There is a postcolonial undertone in the author's approach by way of debunking the ugly face of the petty-colonial power in the saddle after 1947".[32] "Like most postcolonial writers, his choice of English makes him at once an insider and an outsider – a member of the social elite, who writes about the subaltern."[33] Askari's "sensible uses of stylistics can make it pure theory or theory equal."[34]

Bibliography

Books

Short stories

Articles

Newspaper columns

Book review

Awards

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: A brief history of Bangladeshi writing in English . The Missing Slate . 1 October 2015 . 9 July 2017.
  2. News: 2016-08-21 . Rashid Askari made IU VC . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20190823171232/https://www.daily-sun.com/post/160920 . 2019-08-23 . Daily Sun . en.
  3. Web site: Harun-Ur-Rashid joins Bangla Academy as DG . Daily Observer . 25 July 2024 . 1 August 2024.
  4. Web site: Rashid Askari made Bangla Academy DG . NEWAGE . 19 July 2024 . 1 August 2024.
  5. News: Report . Star Digital . 2024-08-10 . Bangla Academy DG resigns . 2024-08-11 . . en.
  6. News: A Talk with IU VC . Daily Sun . Dhaka . 18 September 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170306035353/http://www.daily-sun.com/printversion/details/167531/A-Talk-with-IU-VC . 6 March 2017.
  7. News: IU Arts Faculty gets new dean . https://web.archive.org/web/20230623084513/https://www.newagebd.net/article/136772/iu-arts-faculty-gets-new-dean . 2023-06-23 . 2021-04-30 . New Age . en.
  8. Web site: Rashid Askari – Sangat Book Review . en-US . 2020-04-14.
  9. News: The Archer: First ever multilingual int'l literary magazine in country - Education - observerbd.com . 2021-05-18 . The Daily Observer.
  10. News: Farid made president, Rashid secy gen of FBUTA . New Age . Dhaka . BSS . 9 March 2014.
  11. News: IU Folklore Dept gets new chairman . The Financial Express . Dhaka . BSS . 21 January 2016.
  12. News: Dr Rashid Askari nominated UGC part-time member . Daily Sun . en . 2019-10-28.
  13. News: Coffee table book to be published on Bangabandhu . Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha . Mosharrof . en-US . 2020-01-16.
  14. News: 2020-01-10 . 'We don't know defeat' . 2020-01-16 . The Daily Star . en.
  15. News: Bangabandhu's historic 1974 UN speech by Askari . The Independent . Dhaka.
  16. Web site: Peer Reviewers Panel (QA experts) . Quality Assurance Unit, University Grants Commission . https://web.archive.org/web/20160921020121/http://www.qau.gov.bd/system/files/reports/Peer%20Reviewers%20panel%20(Bangladesh).pdf . 21 September 2016.
  17. Web site: Rashid Askari – Sangat Book Review.
  18. News: Abul Hossain, Askari awarded for contribution to education sector . Daily Sun . en . 2019-04-17.
  19. News: IU VC got PBA gold medal . The Asian Age . Bangladesh . en . 2019-04-17.
  20. News: IU VC awarded 'Jononetri Sheikh Hasina Sommanona Padak-2019' . Daily Sun . en . 2019-10-14.
  21. News: IU VC wins DU Alumni News Award . UNB . en . 2020-04-14.
  22. Web site: Rashid Askari – Sangat Book Review . en-US . 2020-04-02.
  23. News: Profile of the week--Dr. Rashid Askari: Fiction writer, critic, columnist, teacher, and social analyst . The Kushtia Times . 9 January 2012.
  24. News: A Talk with IU VC . Daily Sun . en . 2020-04-01.
  25. News: A chronicler of the human soul . 2019-08-22 . Dhaka Tribune . Op-ed . 2020-04-01.
  26. The Harrowing Tales of Bangladesh Liberation War . 2021-10-27 . Dhaka Courier . en.
  27. Web site: IU VC's book translated into French . 2018-12-01 . A Daily with a Difference Latest Online English Daily among Bangladesh Newspapers . en-US . 2019-04-06.
  28. Askari . Dr Rashid . 2019-11-05 . A Slice of Sky . Contemporary Literary Review India . en . 6 . 4 . 68–91 . 2394-6075.
  29. News: IU teacher's book 'The Making of Mujib' published . 2022-05-24 . The Asian Age . Bangladesh . en.
  30. News: Ex-IU VC Prof Rashid Askari edits PM's book 'My Father, My Bangladesh . 2021-03-25 . Daily Sun . en.
  31. Pawar . Manohar . 2019-12-01 . Askari Rashid, Nineteen Seventy One: Short Stories. . The International Journal of Community and Social Development . en . 1 . 4 . 357–358 . 10.1177/2516602619889245 . 2516-6026 . free.
  32. News: Toimoor . Muhammad Alamgir . 2013-12-09 . Reflecting on post-war days . 2021-08-07 . The Daily Star . Opinion . en.
  33. Web site: 2018-04-15 . Book Review: Rashid Askari's 'Nineteen Seventy One and Other Stories' . 2020-11-05 . Cafe Dissensus Everyday . en.
  34. Hupp . Stephen . October 1997 . SIRS Government Reporter . Electronic Resources Review . 1 . 10 . 113–114 . 10.1108/err.1997.1.10.113.95 . 1364-5137.
  35. Web site: Askari . Dr Rashid . 2011-08-03 . Lottery -- A Short Story by Dr Rashid Askari . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20131005000020/http://www.contemporaryliteraryreviewindia.com/2011/08/lottery-short-story-by-dr-rashid-askari.html . 2013-10-05 . Contemporary Literary Review India.
  36. Web site: Jihad . 2021-04-30 . Daily Sun . en.
  37. Web site: Chakravarty . Mitali . 2019-10-12 . Short Story: The Disclosure . 2019-10-17 . kitaab . en.
  38. Web site: WordPress.com . Blog at . 2019-03-31 . Short Story: The virgin whore . 2019-10-17 . Cafe Dissensus Everyday . en.
  39. Web site: Forum . 2021-02-24 . archive.thedailystar.net.
  40. Tipaimukh Dam and Indian Hydropolitics . Forum . The Daily Star . 2020-04-02.
  41. News: 2007-12-14 . Intellectual killing and the war crimes of 1971 . 2020-12-05 . The Daily Star . en.
  42. Web site: 2007-08-15 . Mujib and the Declaration of Independence . 2021-03-21 . The Daily Star . en.
  43. News: 2010-08-15 . The founder of Bangladesh . 2020-12-05 . The Daily Star . en.
  44. Web site: Liberation War facts . 2021-04-23 . The Daily Star . en.
  45. Web site: 2011-09-17 . Tagore poetry in English . 2021-02-24 . The Daily Star . en.
  46. News: The crowded planet and the fate of mankind . 2020-12-05 . The Daily Observer.
  47. News: Bangladesh and the blue economy . 2020-12-05 . The Daily Observer.
  48. News: Bangla Should Be a UN Language . Daily Sun . en . 2020-03-14.
  49. News: Valentine's Day and an Anatomy of Love . Daily Sun . en . 2020-03-14.
  50. News: Dhaka Translation Fest: A Window on the World . Daily Sun . en . 2020-03-14.
  51. News: Rabindranath, Bangladesh and the Bangalee Diaspora . Daily Sun . en . 2020-03-14.
  52. Web site: Tagore and Bangladesh – Different Truths . en-US . 2020-03-14.
  53. News: Poet Belal Chowdhury: Our Grand Old Man of Poesy . Daily Sun . en . 2020-03-14.
  54. News: The birth of Dhaka Translation Fest (DTF) . 2020-12-05 . Dhaka Courier . en.
  55. News: 'We don't know defeat' . 2020-01-10 . The Daily Star . en . 2020-03-14.
  56. News: Establishing Int'l Publication and Translation Institute is a matter of urgency . Daily Sun . en . 2020-03-14.
  57. Web site: 7th ICSDAP Conference on Social Unrest, Peace and Development . WordPress.com . Blog at . 2019-09-22 . Cafe Dissensus Everyday . en . 2020-03-14.
  58. News: Bangabandhu's 7 March Speech: The Power of Spoken Word . 2020-12-05 . Daily Sun . en.
  59. Web site: Life in the Time of Corona . WordPress.com . Create a free website or blog at . 2020-03-29 . Cafe Dissensus Everyday . en . 2020-03-30.
  60. News: Corona-phobia: Times of Stress and Angst . Daily Sun . en . 2020-03-30.
  61. News: The plague of COVID-19 . 2020-12-05 . New Age . en.
  62. News: The essential Vidyasagar: (On his 200th birth anniversary) . 2021-02-24 . Dhaka Courier . en.
  63. News: A flower born to blush unseen . 2020-12-05 . The Independent . Dhaka.
  64. News: Dialogue of Asian civilizations: Uniting Asia and beyond . 2021-03-21 . Dhaka Courier . en.
  65. Web site: Why write fiction in English . 2021-03-21 . www.observerbd.com.
  66. News: Nineteen seventy one and other stories - Book Review . The Daily Observer . 2019-07-30.
  67. Web site: Nesa . Meherun . 2022-06-09 . An intellectual biography of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman . 2022-07-20 . The Daily Star . en.
  68. News: Abul Hossain, Askari awarded for contribution to education sector . Daily Sun . en . 2019-07-30.
  69. News: IU VC awarded 'Jononetri Sheikh Hasina Sommanona Padak-2019' . Daily Sun . en . 2019-10-17.
  70. News: IU VC wins DU Alumni News Award . The Asian Age . Bangladesh . en . 2020-02-19.
  71. News: Ex-IU VC wins Vidyasagar Award 2023 . 2024-01-16 . New Age . en.

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