DHAKA, Nov 18, 2024 (BSS) - Academics and litterateurs at a seminar today said the literary works particularly the short stories of Independence Award-winning fiction writer Hasan Azizul Haque will remain as permanent assets for Bengali literature.
 
"Hasan Azizul Haque is the only person who established himself as a writer through his outstanding short stories...Hasan has some topnotch short stories on Liberation War along with other issues including partition", they said.

The writers and academics were addressing the seminar organized by Bangla Academy in memory of fiction writer Hasan Azizul Haque at Shamsur Rahman seminar room of the academy.

Fiction writer Ehsan Mahmud presented the keynote speech titled 'Hasan Azizul Haque: Blind composer of partition' in the seminar, chaired by Bangla Academy director general Professor Mohammad Azam.

Professor Mohammad Azam said Hasan Azizul was an exceptional writer in terms of telling stories of the folks from low socioeconomic class in the suburbs and the countryside.

In the keynote speech, Ehsan said, "Hasan Azizul in his writings, throughout his life, highlighted human and social disasters caused by the partition. In his writings, Bangla is not depicted after the partition the way 'Rarh Bangla' used to be depicted during pre pre-partition period".
 
And thus, Bangladesh has never been a prime subject in the literary works of Hasan Azizul Haque, he said, adding, "Hasan Aziz has been recognized for both getting blessings from Kolkata and the quality of his literary works".

However, in the seminar, academics and writers utterly divided on some points of the keynote speech presented by Ehsan Mahmud on the writer.

Disagreeing with Ehsan's statement 'Bangladesh has never been a prime topic for Hasan's writings', fiction writer Wasi Ahmed said, "Hasan Azizul Haque wrote some short stories on Liberation War which can be considered among top short stories ever written on the liberation war".

Describing any sort of human displacement as a severe crisis, fiction writer Wasi Ahmed said, "Hasan Aziz has huge literary works focusing on other issues not just partition. Partition has been one of the major focused issues of Hasan's literary works. But he should not be described as a writer obsessed only with the 1947 partition."

Turning down Ehsan's statement -- 'Hasan emerged as writer due to Kolkata's recognition' -- Writer Mashiul Alam said Hasan Azizul did not became familiar with literary world just for Kolkata's recognition rather he became familiar for his short stories used to publish in the little magazine, out of Kolkata centric literature.

And it was the real cause for Hasan Azizul to get recognition as a writer, he added.