Farrukh Ahmad : Poet of humanism

Anik Mahmud :
Farrukh Ahmad (1918-1974) was a poet and author of juvenile literature. He was born on 10 June, 1918 at Majhail village of Sreepur upazila of Magura district. His father, Khan Sahib Syed Hatem Ali, was a Police Inspector.
Farrukh Ahmad Matriculated from Khulna Zila School in 1937 and did his IA from Ripon College, Kolkata in 1939. Then he enrolled at Scottish Church College to study BA (Hons) in Philosophy and English Literature, but was unable to complete his studies.
Farrukh Ahmad served in the office of the IG Prisons for a few years and in the Civil Supply Department in Kolkata.
From 1945, he began editing the monthly Mohammadi. After partition in 1947 he came to Dhaka and joined the Dhaka Centre of Radio Pakistan as a staff artiste.
Here he directed the popular weekly programme for children, named Khelaghar.
As a student, Farrukh Ahmad had been attracted to the radical humanism of Manabendra Nath Roy and had participated in leftist politics.
From the forties, however, he supported the Pakistan movement. Despite his Pakistani and Islamic ideals, he supported the Language movement in 1952 and, later, the liberation war of Bangladesh.
Farrukh Ahmad became famous for ‘Lash’, a poem written on the 1944 famine. Farrukh Ahmad’s poems are inspired by Islamic ideals.
They explore the glory of Muslim culture and call for a Muslim awakening. His poems reflect the Arab and Persian legacy in Bengal and are replete with Arabic and Persian words. He also wrote satirical poems and sonnets.
Among his poetical works are Satsagarer Majhi (1944), Sirazam Munira (1952), Naufel O Hatem (1961), Muhurter Kavita (1963), Hatemtayi (1966), Habida Marur Kahini (1981), etc. His works for children include Pakhir Basa (1965), Harafer Chhora (1970), Chhorar Asar (1970) etc.
In recognition of his literary contribution he was awarded the Bangla Academy Award (1960), President’s Award for Pride of Performance (1961), Adamjee Prize (1966), UNESCO Prize (1966), Ekushey Padak (posthumously, 1977) and Svadhinata Puraskar (posthumously, 1980).
He died in Dhaka on 19 October 1974.