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First Death Anniversary

Prof Syed Moqsud Ali: My teacher/mentor and colleague

Zillur R. Khan
PROFESSOR Syed Moqsud Ali was not onlymy teacher/mentor at Dhaka University, he also subsequently became my colleague and friend when I served as Asst. Professor and later on Reader/Associate Professor at the same university during 1969-71. Interestingly, Professor S. M. Ali helped me in 1970 with a TV production of his own Bengali version of selected scenes from Dialogue and Republic, of the great Greek philosopher Plato, disciple of Socrates and mentor of Aristotle, whose student was Alexander the Great.
Following his advice I selected students from the Political Science Department to play such roles as Socrates, Glaucon, Trasymachus, Adeimantus and others, coaching them the form and substance of the ideas to be debated in the play. Again with the help of Prof. S.M. Ali, my former teacher and colleague, I sought to create for them a deeper understanding of justice, the most fundamental concept of Plato's Republic in the context of a growing awareness of justice for Bengalis within the framework of greater regional autonomy for East Pakistan in a reformed federal structure of Pakistan. I was worried about censorship in Pakistan TV. It could prevent the broadcast of the play, if a link was detected with the autonomy or state rights movement of Bengalis. Professor S.M. Ali put my worries to rest by making the dialogues on justice more subtle, significantly lessening the possibility of detection of such linkages.
Indeed, the play was broadcast on PTV with my brief introduction on justice as applied to human interactions for advancements and stability, and I gave due credit to Professor S. M. All's contributions to making the play a success. With his encouragement and help I went on directing a couple of more plays on PTV until December 1970.
Now let me 'chew the honeyed cud" of my days as a student of Dhaka University from 1954 to 1958. One of the most memorable times I had was taking the class on Ancient Political Thought from Professor S. M. Ali. Gaining knowledge from the history of political thoughts and applying selectively that knowledge for political development was the main thrust of his absorbing lectures.
At least for me, what made his interactions with students really interesting was when he assigned us roles from Plato's Dialogue and Republic and required us to think about the ideas and concepts embedded in those roles before acting out in class. Had there been TV in those days, Professor S. M. Ali most probably would have directed some of us in one or more productions on the silver screen. No wonder he was so glad to help me direct my students fifteen years later for his Bengali version of Plato's works on TV.
Academically, I have immensely benefitted from his mentorship on political development at different levels of human existence. As Chairman of the Research Committee on Rethinking Political Development of International Political Science Association (IPSA), I have organised several workshops/regional conferences, the most recent being in Dhaka, Bangladesh, during February 1-2, 2014. In my keynote address, I emphasised the need for dialogue, justice and balance between different human propensities for peace and stability at different political levels - globally, regionally, sub-regionally and locally. Many of my ideas were kindled in the political philosophy classes taught by Professor S. M. Ali.
Had my teacher-mentor-colleague been with us today, I would have sought his valuable advice on how to find common ground between the two largest warring political parties of Bangladesh on which a consensus building process could be created for the greater interest of perhaps the most promising emerging nation of the 21st Century: Bangladesh. We could have attempted it through a play based on Plato's concept of justice together with Aristotle s ’Golden Mean.’
Plato, Republic. Tr. B. Jewett, 1871. Barnes and Noble, New York, 2004. Bk. VII.The writer Is Chairman, RC 37, International Political Science Association (IPSA), www.rc37.lpsa.org, Professor Emeritus, University of Wisconsin, and Adjunct Professor, Rollins College, USA; Distinguished Fellow, Policy Research Institute (PRI), Bangladesh; President, Bangladesh Foundation, USA. www.bangladesh-fbundation.org