Hasan Azizul Haque speaks on social responsibilities of an intellectual

Who is an intellectual? What are the elements one needs to possess in order to be referred to as an intellectual in a society? These are some of the questions that were answered during a public lecture delivered by Professor Hasan Azizul Haque, an eminent writer-novelist, at the Abdul Karim Sahitya Bisharad Auditorium in Bangla Academy yesterday.

This was the seventh and last instalment of the Gyantapas Abdur Razzaq Distinguished Lecture Series and Professor Haque spoke on “The Social Responsibilities of the Intellectual”. Despite being slightly under the weather, the 79-year-old professor spoke for an hour and managed to cover the first few chapters of his lecture.

“While attempting to speak on intellectuals and their responsibilities, I have realised that I have been labelled as an intellectual. Whether this is an advantage or not, I won't go into that argument… however, I feel that if society has to progress and follow the right path, then everyone has to be an intellectual in their respective field. A person may be a teacher or a politician, or even a nine-to-five working officer…” said Professor Haque.

Dividing his lecture into different phases, Prof Haque initially touched upon the intellectuals of various societies and the kind of responsibility that they have. For instance, he spoke about writers and the power they have.

“Whether a writer can be an intellectual is a topic that can have plenty of arguments. However, in my opinion, if one wants to be a writer, one has to be an intellectual at first,” he said. The lecture also included the responsibilities of cultural activists and those involved in the education sector.

Towards the end of his lecture, Professor Haque asked everyone from different fields to be responsible individuals no matter what obstacle they face. “The ghosts of irresponsibility should not get you,” he concluded.

Professor Haque was introduced by Abul Hasnat, editor of Kali o Kolom. National Professor Anisuzzaman provided closing remarks to the programme.

While this was the last lecture of the cycle, Gyantapas Abdur Razzaq Foundation plans to arrange another cycle next year.