| Shahriar Kabir | |
| Native Name Lang: | bn |
| Birth Date: | 20 November 1950 |
| Birth Place: | Feni district, Chittagong, East Bengal, Dominion of Pakistan |
| Nationality: | Pakistani - Bangladeshi |
| Occupation: | Journalist, filmmaker, activist, author |
| Alma Mater: | Jagannath College University of Dhaka |
Shahriyar Kabir'"(Bengali: শাহরিয়ার কবির; born 20 November 1950) is a Bangladeshi journalist, filmmaker, human rights activist,[1] and author of more than 70 books focusing on human rights, communism, fundamentalism, history, and the Bangladesh war of independence. He was also known as Murgi Kabir.[2] He was awarded Bangla Academy Literary Award in 1995.[3]
Kabir was born in Feni district, Chittagong Division, East Pakistan and now in Bangladesh on 20 November 1950. He attended St Gregory's School. He passed his higher secondary exam from Jagannath College. He was a student of the Department of Bengali at the University of Dhaka. Shariar Kabir was one of the prominent activists of Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra in Kolkata during Liberation War. He helped to write inspiring script & poems for freedom fighter during the war which were played in Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra. Then he was a student of Bengali Department of the University of Dhaka.[4] He started his writings for teenagers and juveniles when he was a university student. After the war, he joined as a journalist in the Daily Bangla and also in the Weekly Bichitra.[5] He was one of the main editors of Weekly Bichitra, which played a vital role for the punishment of liberation war criminals. From 1976 to 1980 he became the general secretary of the organization Bangladesh Lekhak Shibir.[6]
In January 1992, Ekattorer Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee (Committee for Resisting Killers and Collaborators of Bangladesh Liberation War of 71) was formed by 101 people. This committee called for the trial of people who committed crimes against humanity in the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War in collaboration with the Pakistan Army. The Ghatak-Dalal Nirmul Committee set up mock trials in Dhaka in March 1992 known as Gono Adalot (Court of the people) and 'sentenced' persons they accused of being war criminals.[5] Jahanara Imam and 24 others were charged with treason.[7] [8] This charge was, however, dropped in 1996 after her death by the Chief advisor Mohammed Habibur Rahman of the Caretaker government of that time.[9]
Kabir played a major role in formation of Nirmul Committee. The people's court set up by the Ekattorer Ghatak-Dalal Nirmul Committee led by Jahanara Imam was deemed unlawful by the Government of Bangladesh.[10] After the death of Jahanara Imam, he became the acting president of Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee.
Kabir has been active for years as a journalist writing about human rights in Bangladesh. He was arrested twice in the early 2000s for what the government considered illegal attacks.[11] He was first arrested in November 2001, after the government of Khaleda Zia of the Bangladesh National Party had come to power. The government charged him with sedition and "tarnishing the image of the government" because he was investigating attacks on the Hindu minority from October to December 2001 and accused minister of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami of taking part in war crimes during Bangladesh Liberation War.[12] Many Hindus had been intimidated and attacked by party workers during that period in an effort to keep them away from the polls, as they generally did not vote for the Islamist parties. Kabir was documenting accounts by the survivors.[13] He was then released on bail in January 2002.[14] [15] In February 2002, a bomb was thrown at a reception for him in Chittagong Press Club, killing one bystander.[16]
Kabir was arrested again in December 2002 . As the head of the Nirmul Committee, which he founded in 1992 to work for prosecution of those responsible for genocide and other war crimes during the Bangladesh War of Independence in 1971, Kabir has continued to take an active role. Observers said that the BNP was threatened as its principal political partner, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami has leaders who have been alleged to have participated as in paramilitary forces against liberation in 1971, which the party opposed. When the High Court ruled on 4 January 2003 that Kabir's detention without charges was illegal, the government held him for an additional 90 days under the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act.
He has alleged that Ghulam Azam, a former leader of Jamaat e Islami at the time of the liberation war, had played an important role in the mass killings of the 1971 conflict, as had Jamaat as a group. He has also said that the Razakars were founded by the Jamaat e Islami leader, Maulana A.K.M. Yusuf.[17] Kabir has supported efforts by the Awami League-led government, which won a two-thirds majority in the Parliament in December 2008, to establish an International Crimes Tribunal in 2009 to prosecute war crimes. The first trials were completed in early 2013, with three men convicted who have been prominent in Jamaat since the liberation war, which the party opposed. Afterwards he called for a ban on the Jamaat-e-Islami party.[18] Ghulam Azam was also convicted by the International Crimes Tribunal.[19]
Shahriyar Kabir is also a very popular author for children and young adult's adventure book genre. He has penned many books like Nuliachorir Shonar Pahar, Abuder Adventure, Carpathian er Kalo Golap etc.[20]
Shahrier Kabir, the prominent Bangladeshi activist and writer, has been a subject of controversy due to various perspectives on his actions and beliefs. According to claims made by Kader Siddiqi, a notable freedom fighter and politician, Shahrier Kabir was reputed to have supplied chicken to the Pakistani army during certain historical events, earning him the nickname "Murgi" or "Chicken Kabir" or "Murgi Kabir" or "chagol কবির". Additionally, Kabir is a controversial figure known for his strong anti-Islamist stance. His account of the War of Liberation has been criticized by some as fabricated, with allegations that he uses this narrative to gain favor with the autocratic Hasina regime. These controversies have contributed to varying interpretations of Kabir's role and legacy within the context of Bangladesh's socio-political landscape.[25]