Zahir Raihan

Sketch: yafiz siddiqui

Zahir Raihan, having done some noteworthy amazing works and with the promise of further amazing work, died an untimely death before he had a chance to explore his full potential. Born on 19 August 1935, as Mohammad Zahirullah, in Majupur, (now Feni District, Bangladesh), Zahir Raihan's short stories, novels, movies and documentaries helped him earn critical acclaim and admiration in the Bengali Literary society.  He was a novelist, journalist, writer and filmmaker, however he is chiefly remembered for his documentary Stop Genocide, made during the Bangladesh Liberation War. A graduate in Bengali Literature, his prolific career began with his first collection of short stories, titled Suryagrahan, which got published in 1955. After assisting several directors in their films, in 1960 revealed himself as the director of Kokhono Asheni which was released in 1961. He made Pakistan's first colour movie, Sangam in 1964 and completed his first CinemaScope movie, Bahana, the following year. An active supporter of the Language Movement of 1952, his film Jibon Theke Neya was critically acclaimed by Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen, Tapan Sinha and Ritwik Ghatak. He also actively participated in the Gano Obhyuthyan in 1969 and joined in the Liberation War of Bangladesh. Raihan never came back when he went out on 30 January 1972 trying to find his brother, the famous writer Shahidullah Kaiser, who was captured and killed by the Pakistani Army during the final days of the liberation war.  It is believed that Raihan along with many others was attacked when they went to Mirpur, one of the existing strongholds for Pakistani/Bihari collaborators at that time.