Khan Sarwar Murshid: What made the man

HERE, I explore what made the man Professor Khan Sarwar Murshid, by delving into his family history and how he responded to his contemporary society as a youth. According to family stories, Khan Sarwar Murshid (1924-2012) was descended from his father's side by Pushtun speaking officers who fortified the rule of the Turco-Afghans such as Sher Shah Suri and the Khan Pathans who were eventually displaced by the Mughals during the reign of Akbar in the sixteenth century, when Raja Maan Singh was sent by Emperor Akbar to pacify Bengal. Two war weary brothers who were comrades in arms were separated when one of them died. The survivor, Nasiruddin Khan lost heart, left the battle-field and sailed down the Ganges. He finally settled down on the banks of the Meghna River in Tripura thus founding the village of Nasirabad. Sarwar unsympathetically thought of him as a deserter. Khan bari acquired land, became powerful and was in constant competition with Rai bari to wed the most beautiful women or ride the most fancy horses. Family legend has it that their exploits were written down on papyrus leaves. I have wondered why if paper had already been invented by that time, albeit in China. It is possible that paper was not widely available in India at the time.
Family fortunes suffered largely due to the loss of land through floods and land erosion into the Meghna and subsequent feuds to recover the newly rising lands or chars on the other side of the river. Sarwar often recalled his vivid memory of how the family mosque was devoured by the river. Now that river is somewhat tamed, probably because of the dams and barrages built at the upper reaches of the Ganges in India that have slowed down the water flow to the Tripura areas. The region is still lush and green and the homesteads are well built to withstand the winds, rain and floods.
The current family homestead was founded by two brothers Madan Khan and Ditu Khan. Madan Khan, also known as Ali Ashraf Khan and editor of the journal Padma, was the father of Ali Ahmed Khan (1902-1966) who was in turn the father of Sarwar. Ali Ashraf became principal of Shyamogram Mohini Kishore Rai School and this mantel fell on his youngest son Wahid Ali Khan, who served there into the nineteen eighties. Since the nineteenth century, when this school was founded, the Khans studied in this school and then went Brahmanbaria or Comilla for further studies.
On his mother's side, the family traces its descent from the Mughal courtiers, some of whom were in the legal profession, whose services were retained by the British during the colonial period. One was a Munsef or jurist in Comilla town from whom came the name of Munsef bari. The influence of Mughal courtly culture was traceable perhaps to the early twentieth century, until when family astrological charts were maintained to determine the auspicious from the inauspicious. Thursdays were regarded as special days when strategic decisions would not be taken. Among some of the stalwarts from this family still with us today is Badruddoza Chowdhury, doctor and former president of the country, son of Kafiluddin Chowdhury, M.L.A.
Sarwar Murshid's mother Siddiqua thus came from an urban elite background, true to the nature of Muslim settlements that were essentially urban in character. At the age of 14, she married Ali Ahmed, a young man of 21. It is said that they never quarreled and addressed each other with the polite form of 'apni.' From all accounts, theirs was an exemplary marriage, for she was a wise woman and he a loving husband. His father, Ali Ahmed Khan came from a rural elite background, his ancestors having been forced to retreat from the front lines due to the changing political landscape.
But the Khan family evolved from a martial race into an intellectual race. Sarwar's ancestors became teachers, lawyers, doctors, newspaper editors and politicians. His father was a successful and well known advocate who worked in Brahmanbaria. From there he participated in pre-independence Bengal politics and was elected a member of the Bengal Legislative Assembly. Subsequently, he became a Member of the Legislative Assembly in East Pakistan. Young Sarwar and his friends campaigned in support of A.A. Khan, distributing leaflets, organising meetings. He moved to No 3, Obhoy Das Lane in Dhaka to pursue his political and legal career and be near only his son. He started a journal, prophetically called Purbo Bangla, which functioned from his garage.
A fateful accident, however, dealt a powerful blow. A road accident incapacitated his wife, whose suffering was compounded by diabetes, and he gave up his work to look after her himself. His contribution to the family heritage has never been fully evaluated until recently, and only now we begin to understand what he has left for us. He left us opulence and security, ideologies of tolerance and inclusion; he created possibilities for our mother to flourish, pursue a political career and continue to contribute to the cultural scene of Bengali theatre and art world; he steered our father to be determined in his career path; and he provided his descendants a role model of a beautiful relationship, embodied in his own married life.
I was very young when we lost our grandmother, but I remember her to be petite, fair with doe eyes and long black hair without a speck of grey. Sarwar was very close to his mother. When we moved to Azimpur Estate, our chhoto dadu, as we called her, used to rest outdoors on a reclining chair and dry her hair in the sun. One afternoon, a thief pulled off her gold necklace while she slept, and she cried out in shock or pain. Sarwar jumped over the balcony of their ground floor apartment to run to her aid. When she left the world barely in her forties, Sarwar was convinced that there could be no God that could be so cruel. He lost faith as a result for a long time to come.
Sarwar Murshid was raised in a protective environment, because of his frail health in childhood. And hence his early education was home-based. This may have contributed to his shy disposition. He thus allowed his elder sister, Latifa Khan (Anar), who later became a customs officer, to take him under her charge. And she, on her part, defended him stoutly. Theirs was a family linked to the soil. Many people passed by for food, overnight stay, short term hospitality, or long term service. The latter were invariably looked after for life, with work, support to the family and bearing of wedding costs.
Reading, writing, studying was a passion for Sarwar from his childhood, and he would read under a kupi or candle if he was not caught. Though a very obedient child, he rebelled against social prejudices, the use of coarse language, crude behaviour, garish colours, the lack of symmetry wherever he found it, the local idea of beauty as fair and limited to the face only, the petty criticism of neighbours common in provincial towns and villages. In fact, he decided that the only way out of such a world was to create one in your image of the ideal; in which, through personal example, you demonstrate how a refined and cultured existence is possible. It is thus that he became an aesthete, through a meticulous approach to truth and beauty embodied in the personal, cultivated self.
He could achieve such a selfhood because of his heritage, his background and the people he encountered. He learnt to accept certain values and reject others. That he edited New Values appears less surprising when we note that both his father and grandfather had edited newspapers and journals. The nature and shape taken by New Values, draws also from his humanistic heritage: the influence of Gandhian non-violence and tolerance in the family, sympathy for the Swadesh movement, the wearing of khadi and interest in a United Bengal, as well as a healthy regard for theatre and dance, ideas subscribed to by his father before him.

The writer is Dr. Murshid's daughter.
E-mail: [email protected]