IIPM felicitates Bengali writers

This Saturday the city bore witness to a memorable awards ceremony as the Indian Institute of Planning and Management (IIPM) felicitated outstanding Bengali writers and journalists.

Four Bengali novelists were awarded the Surama Chowdhury Memorial International Award in literature and journalism – an award carrying a cash prize of Rs. 40 lakh. Atin Bandopadhyay for Neelkantha Pakhir Khoje, Abul Bashar for Phool Bou, Syed Mustafa Siraj for Aleek Manush and the late Gourkishore Ghosh for Prem Nei received the awards. Each of the awardees also received a citation and a gold medal from the director of IIPM, Dr. M. K. Chaudhuri.

In his inaugural speech Dr. Chaudhuri said, ‘This award that is named after my mother will not only inspire budding writers but also the students of IIPM’. He also announced that IIPM will soon be instituting an award in memory of late journalist Barun Sengupta, especially for journalists. The prize money for this will be Rs. 1 lakh.

Arindam Chaudhuri, one of the hosts for the evening, said, ‘Such an award is unique in its kind and I really feel proud to felicitate individuals for their excellence in their respective fields’.

Writer Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay who was one of the special guests said, ‘The struggle that Abul Bashar and Mustafa Siraj had to undertake in life is reflected in their works’.

Noted economist Surojit Dasgupta traced the representation of Muslim society in the works of Bengali writers, from Rabindranath Tagore to the present. ‘These four books by the awarded authors give a perfect picture of Muslim society within the Bengali diaspora’.

‘Aleek Manush is the story of a man who becomes a myth’, said Syed Mustafa Siraj. He also added that it was on Gourkishore Ghosh’s insistence that he wrote this novel. In addition to the Hindu-Muslim theme that pervades his awarded book, ‘My works also present the life of the people of the Rarh plains of Bengal to which I belong’, said Siraj.

Abul Bashar was all praise for contemporary Bengali literature, saying, ‘Bengali literature has always been a closed diaspora and through such awards and recognitions, I am sure Bengali writing will touch a new glory of excellence’.

It was a gala evening hosted by notable Doordarshan anchor Madhumanti Moitra and inaugurated by veteran Bengali writer Sunil Gangopadhyay. Special guests included writer Nabanita Deb Sen, dancer Alokananda Roy, journalist Suman Chattopadhyay and many other dignitaries from the field of literature, culture and journalism.


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