HE was a member ol erstwhile PSP He be came Inspector General of Police of Bangladesh. He. became the Chairman of BRTC. BOGMC BJMC and BADC. And as hie term as Chairman of BADC began, he was suddenly taken III aiHi died on 7th November in 19^9 He was Muhammed Habibur Rahman.
He was among those few who feel too strongly that they owe to the society. They try to meet their social obligation unprompted in many ways. One of the ways is promoting education in the society.
"Muhammed Habibur Rahman and Amina Mahmud Scholarship" for meritorious, needy students of Department of Economics of the University of Dhaka is a tribute to the memory of Muhammed Habibur Rahman. The scholarship which Is roughly a cash equivalent of Tk 3000 yearly each is awarded to four meritorious students of the University of Dhaka every year.
Muhammed Habibur Rahman was not a wealthy man. But he had an urge and he had the will to do this kind of service to the community.
The scholarship fund was established after his death by Mrs Habibur Rahman in memory of her husband.
All this Is a modest effort but very inspiring endeavour for a man of his means, who gave his entire life to honest, dedicated service of the government. He was among those few who feel this kind of social obligation. He will inspire more people to swell the ranks of "the few".
I go back to the days of 1949. British had quit India. The subcontinent had been df' vided Into tWo Independent countries. Dhaka has become the provincial capital of East Pakistan. A small town on the bank of river Buriganga. Dhaka left behind Its days of several thousand population to grow into a metropolis of millions
in a brief span of time
"Ol Kalua. handel maar " Hey Kalua. knock the handle hard That Is an English ren dering of a phrase used In a feature In the Bengali-language cineweekly. The Chitrali'. in 1956. Habib wrote tt in a very popular column in "The Chitrali'' edited by S M Pervez and published by Ruhul Amin alias Tota Mian
The column took a look at various aspects of city life In the Fifties. Written under a pseudonym, it treasures material of lasting interest.
The Jovial spirit that char acterises his writings In "The Chitrali". while still in the Dhaka University filled his life.
Habib loved art and music He was quite knowledgeable in fine arts, which wag demonstrated when "The Chitrali" was first published through the Joint effort of a group of us friends. Of course. Pervez was the organizer Pervez put together a team: Habib. Nurul Islam nicknamed Mullard. Muslafiz, Shamsul Alam alias Fuiu, Shamsul Islam alias Dulu. Ruhul Amlo alias Tota Mian who was the financier and others In various roles.
Those were the days when there were a few dailies and only one cineweekly. Chitrali. whose contents were contributors’ columns, one full page of readers' questions and answers on art. music and so on, reports on cultural functions in city and elsewhere (which were few and far between in the mid-Fifties) and a large number of reports on Bombay filmland.
Al) cinema halls in the country showed Indian films and some Hollywood movies For a time East Pakistan had no film industry. Lahore was developing fast from a rag tag outfit.
Habib was a voracious reader and his reading interests ranged wide. He had a knack for constructive criticism of literary work and decision making. His reviews of films, theatres and cultural functions appeared in various journals.
He Joined the Polfce Service of Pakistan in 1956. He went to Madaripur as Sub; Divisional Police Officer for hi.* first posting. He believed in in-fpiring friends and liked to be inspired Iji return. He cared for what people thought about film.
One day In 1989 he called me at .the Bangladesh Times and said that he regularly wrote a review column in 'The Chitrali" and The Sachltra Bangladesh" under a penname.
Then he said. Well that* a talking point Tell me what you think people think about me and my work
That firings into focus one s genuine concern for one s work which affects people In the early years of service with the government Habib was concerned about what people thought about him and about his work and also In the later years of service, he cared for other's evaluation of him.
When he was posted in Narayanganj In 1961-63 Zalnul Abedin, our common friend who was a PSP Officer was posted as ADC to Governor Azam Khan Around 4 am one morning, he phoned me from the Governor's House ' was preparing to go home after night shift in the Bangladesh Observer (then The Pakistan Observer! In those days, work was finished late because of slow printing method. Many Sub-editors spent most of the night at the office.
Zatnul asked me to wait for him at my office at Johnson Road. Sadarghat. He would walk from his office-and quar ter* at the Governor's House (now President s House) and pick me up for a long Journey to Narayanganj to eat breakfast at Habib's place I had reputa tion of a walker and Zalnul ticked me on that
Zalnul and 1 walked to Narayanganj on old Dhaka Narayanganj road on the Buriganga river We reached SDPCs house at around 8 am. Habib was pleasantly surprised We spent the day at Narayanganj going places in the small town. I could see the image he created among peo pie in his office as well as outside.
Habib made efforts to be liked. He knew honest. Intelligent and diligent work attracted love and respect of people.
I remember the Urdu speaking paanwalla's mutter ing to his assistant as he gave us paan and cigarettes. Obviously, the paanwalla was addressing us. Habib stopped his Jeep in front of the betel leaf shop known for "ice-cooled" paan.
The paanwalla said. "Sutltwala bhag gia. Shahab bahut karoa hat" Translated into English that means: The yarn trader has lied. Shahib Is very Strict." Incidentally. Narayanganj was a big centre of yarn trading where black marketing was rampant.
Habib was posted in Maijdi. Noakhali. We friends visited him. He was a strict disciplinarian. honest and humane.
He changed but he changed far better and better service
We travelled by train from Dhaka to Feni It was prear ranged that Habib would pick us up from the rail station
As we got into his jeep. Habib was giving Instructions to his uniformed men In those days. the sight of Superintendent of Police in the mufassil areas used to attract people Such an environment encourages some people to make comments — good bad or indifferent It redounds to Habib's credit that hi* deep concern for what people thought of him want to building in their minds a good image of him One of the loving comments I remember Is from hl* day* in Noakhali ‘SP Shahib loves work loves books and loves old friends." They must have known what makes old friends different from new friends at that time of life.
During our Chitrali days a Vice-President of Paramount Picture* bf Hollywood vtstted Dhaka A dinner was arranged on the occasion of his visit Hotel! Shahbag Inow IPGMR) was the venue
The city was small and Hotel Shahbag wa* on the western fringe of the town. It stood on the road which in those days went past Kaoran Bazar out of the town to old Kurmltola Airport (now shifted) and beyond to Kucmitola Cantonment which has vastly expanded since then. The city has burgeoned on three sides except the south which is bounded by the Buriganga river
One of the landmarks on the river, a Mughal cannon on a brick-built platform, is now shifted to Osmani Garden's southern side The cannon has a checkered career. It was once located in front of the Gulistan Cinema Hall (built after East Pakistan came into being) which was the outer limit of the city on that side. The residential area of Purana Paltan was on the outskirts .of the city beyond open grounds where Stadium and Baltul Mukarram and Motijheel have come up later.
Well. Habib and 1 were invited to the dinner We enjoyed the dinner. Tie dinner was often a talking point. Vast numbers of people in the world do not eat the way we in this sub-continent do. They use fork, knife and spoon or chopsticks. That's an interesting thing.
He was a good observer of things. He-gave us friends a wealth of interesting experiences of his official visit to the US. Here is a sample.
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