Bangladesh National Culture and Heritage launched

Professor Bazlul Mubin Chowdhury, Vice Chancellor, IUB, was in the chair while Abul Ahsan, Executive Director, Centre for Social Science and Public Policy, IUB was the host.

Professor AF Salahuddin Ahmed, one of the editors of Bangladesh National Culture and Heritage, introduced the book to the audience. He said that 25 articles have been included in the book.

Professor Zillur Rahman Siddiqui, the former Vice Chancellor, Jahangirnagar University, and Professor Syed Manzoorul Islam, Department of English, Dhaka University were the reviewers of the book.

Professor Siddiqui said, 'I congratulate a private university like Independent University for putting together this book. However, in the book, history has been given more emphasis rather than other aspects. In the case of religion, there is an article on Islam and the other three religions--Hinduism, Buddhism and Christianity are covered in one single article which is not acceptable in a book like Bangladesh Culture and Heritage.'

Professor Islam said, 'I think it is a well-focused book. But as a reviewer, I would like to say that while it comes to national culture we should not exclude the ethnic culture. We should rather call them 'ethnic minorities' Moreover, in a multicultural society, we should say 'cultures' not 'culture'. Otherwise, the ethnic minorities would be left out which is not acceptable in a research work like this. Further, I like to add that there should be writings on the history of our performing arts like drama, cinema and others.'

Justice Habibur Rahman said, 'At present, we are reluctant to pay much attention to history. In this sense, their work is appreciable. However, because of political, social and religious impact sometimes it is difficult to point out the facts of history.

The weakest part of the book is the section on religion. In the topic we see that the writer has evaluated Christianity. However, the impact of Christianity on our culture remains unfocused. Moreover, in the discussion on Islam, some concepts of the Muslim philosophers have been mentioned which are not practised in our country. I suggest the inclusion of a selected chronology of history of Bangladesh.'

Professor Bazlul Mobin Chawdhury, in his concluding remarks said: 'We not only tried to focus on the socio-cultural heritage of Bangladesh but also tried to introduce the eminent authors to the young generation of the country.'