Professor Mobasher Ali: A Radiant Literary Figure and a Valiant Soldier of the Language Movement
On 9 November 2026, the 21st death anniversary of Professor Mobasher Ali (1 January 1931 – 9 November 2005) was observed. If personal popularity can be taken as a true measure of a person’s inner worth, independent of
professional position, then Professor Mobasher Ali was a man who earned lasting admiration purely through his own merit.
Throughout his life he moved with quiet brilliance and dignity in the worlds of language and literature. As one of the most distinguished figures in Bengali literature, his active role in the Language Movement of 1952—and in the years leading up to it—added a further dimension of honour to his legacy.
Though primarily an educationist and teacher by profession, Mobasher Ali excelled with rare distinction in many other fields of language and literature. He was at once a devoted teacher, a prolific writer, a perceptive
researcher, and a versatile man of letters of exceptional standing. The eminent scholar Professor Kabir Chowdhury once remarked that his writings had added a new dimension to Bengali literature. Bridging Bengali literature with the literature of the world was Mobasher Ali’s lifelong aspiration, and for half a century he pursued this mission with unwavering
dedication.Early Life and EducationMobasher Ali was born on 1 January 1931 into an aristocratic, educated, and progressive family at Alasaheb Bari (his ancestral home in Bagichagaon), Comilla. His formal schooling began at Comilla District School in 1938.
Yet it was under the guidance of his father, the lawyer Newazesh Ali, that his mind truly took shape.
A man of broad, cosmopolitan outlook, his father introduced the young Mobasher to Shakespeare, Cervantes, Tolstoy, and Balzac. When he entered Comilla Victoria College in 1946, his father gave him two books—A History of Greece and The Art of Greece. This early encounter with
Greek history and literature proved deeply fruitful and planted the seeds of a global sensibility that would shape his entire literary life. He later earned a law degree from Aligarh Muslim College.
In 1948 he enrolled at the University of Dhaka for an Honours degree in Bengali and lived as a resident student of Fazlul Huq Hall. He completed his Honours in 1951 and obtained his Master’s degree in the historic year of 1952.Choosing teaching as his profession, he joined Netrokona College in Mymensingh in 1953. The following year he was transferred to M.M.
College in Jessore, where he spent four years. He then returned to Comilla Victoria College and remained there until 1979, when he was posted as Acting Principal of B.L. University College in Khulna. From 1980 until his retirement in 1987 he served as Principal of Haji Mohammad
Mohsin College. As a deeply conscientious and dedicated teacher, he carried a missionary spirit: he sought to guide his students along the right academic path and keep them free from the distractions of irrelevant student politics.An Outstanding Translator and Scholar of Classical
LiteratureHis career as a writer began in the pages of the magazine Samakal. At the invitation of the literary figure Sikandar Abu Zafar, he started writing on and translating Greek literature.
In 1958 the same magazine published his illuminating essay on the Russian Nobel laureate Boris Pasternak. Yet it is as a translator of classical world literature that he is most widely and deeply respected. He possessed a rare scholarly gift for building bridges between Western and Bengali
readers.His translations bear the clear mark of intellectual seriousness and care.
Among the foundational works of Western civilisation that he rendered into Bengali are: Homer’s Odyssey, Virgil’s Aeneid. Plutarch’s Lives (in three volumes), Aeschylus’s Agamemnon.
Beyond these major epic translations, he also wrote and compiled several highly regarded books that introduced Greek mythology and history to Bengali readers, including Ten Stories of Greece (1994), More Stories of Greece (1996), Greek Legends, and Aurora and Other Stories (2001).
His work was supported by a range of respected publishers and institutions: the Centre for World Literature, Bangla Academy, Shilpakala Academy, Nazrul Institute, Student Ways, Kakoli, Oitijjho, Muktadhara, and National Book Publication.Researcher and Literary CriticAlongside his original writings in Bengali, Mobasher Ali produced a substantial body of work on Greek, Roman, and Russian literature, as well as on major European writers. In the field of Bengali literature, his books on Michael Madhusudan Dutt, Kazi Nazrul Islam, and Rabindranath Tagore remained bestsellers for years. From his deep research into the lives and works of Bengal’s greatest writers came several significant critical studies, among them Nazrul Pratibha, Nazrul o Tin Nari, Madhusudan o Nabajagaran, Shelley: Jiban o Sahityakriti, and Shilpir Tragedy (1985).He authored forty-three books in total. Among these carefully researched works, two stand out as particularly valuable for students and lovers of literature: Bishwa Sahitya (World
Literature) and Greek Tragedy. These books explore the vast range of the world’s literary heritage and succeed in making complex classical and European literary ideas accessible to Bengali readers. In Bangladesher Sandhane he sought to recover and illuminate the nation’s glorious past. Concerned about the declining standard of Bengali grammar among students, he also wrote a grammar and composition book for secondary-level learners. In his final years he devoted himself almost entirely to research and writing.His literary contributions were recognised with numerous awards, including the Bangla Academy Award (1974), Comilla
Foundation Award (1984), Ekushey Padak (1992), Madhusudan Academy Award (1993), Bangladesh Mahila Samiti Award (1995), National Society Medal (2001), and the Rapport Award for Excellence in Human Resource Development (2004).
A Tragic Picture of Posthumous
NeglectYet the story of this remarkable intellectual ends on a note of deep and painful irony. Despite a lifetime of service to the nation’s culture and an outstanding contribution to Bengali literature, Professor Mobasher Ali was never awarded the Independence Award—the highest civilian honour of the country he had fought for during the Language Movement and which he
loved so deeply.Even more heartbreaking is the treatment of his final resting place. According to national rules, recipients of the Ekushey Padak are entitled to a free and permanent burial plot.
After his death, however, his family faced prolonged bureaucratic obstacles. Despite repeated efforts to secure a permanent grave for him in Mirpur, Dhaka, permission was refused. It is a bitter tragedy that a man who dedicated his life to preserving the nation’s language and history,
and who received national recognition for that service, was denied a dignified and permanent resting place by the very system that had once honoured him.Nevertheless, as long as the Bengali language is read and spoken, and as long as students continue to turn the pages of Homer, Virgil,
or his own masterpiece Bishwa Sahitya in Bengali, the legacy of Professor Mobasher Ali will endure.A Nation That Forgets Its Own History Has No Future“A nation that forgets its own history has no future.” This simple yet profound truth gives urgency to the call for a new effort to revive Professor Mobasher Ali’s pioneering research. His monumental work History of Comilla District, which he edited as chief editor, stands as a rich and lasting record of the historical, archaeological, and cultural heritage of greater Comilla (including Chandpur and Brahmanbaria).The book carefully traces a long and layered history: from the Buddhist commercial centre of Mainamati (7th–12th centuries) and its links to the Silk Road, to the
medieval centre of learning under the Chandra dynasty. It also shows how nineteenth-century Comilla became a birthplace of indigenous banking—a tradition that later inspired BARD and the revolutionary “Comilla Model” of rural development, which influenced economic thinking far beyond Bangladesh.To prevent the permanent loss of this invaluable historical record, a five- point plan of action has been proposed:
Digital Archiving — Create an online, searchable edition of the book in partnership with the University of Dhaka.
Curriculum Inclusion — Incorporate this local history into school and college curricula. Living History — Establish a “Comilla Model Museum” under the auspices of BARD. International Recognition — Seek UNESCO recognition for the Mainamati–Shalban heritage region.
Posthumous Honour — Campaign for the award of the Independence Award to Professor Ali and rename Comilla Airport the “Mobasher Ali History Terminal.”
These proposals call for immediate action from key institutions. The Ministry of Cultural Affairs and Bangla Academy should lead on policy and academic reprinting, while the Deputy Commissioner of Comilla can form a steering committee. Corporate houses such as Pran and Square have been invited to support the initiative through CSR funding, and Bangladesh Bank
has been asked to consider support for related cultural projects, including the revival of khadi.
This is not simply a matter of reprinting books. It is an economic opportunity—to encourage archaeological tourism and agri-tech innovation—and a social necessity: the recovery of the region’s shared Hindu–Buddhist–Muslim heritage as a living counter to extremism.
Despite a lifetime of service, Professor Ali was denied both the Independence Award and a permanent grave in Mirpur. Reviving his work remains the most meaningful way to honour his memory.
As the saying goes: “History is not a burden of memory, but the illumination of the soul.” May the work of Mobasher Ali once again light the path of Comilla’s heritage before living memory fades.
He dreamt for making Cumilla division as well as transforming Victoria College to University Victorial in Cumilla.He several times pleaded for reopening of Cumilla Airport.
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About the author: Farhana Yasmin Mitu is the Assistant Professor, Department of English
Bangladesh University of Business and Technology