| Hakim, (Khan Bahadur)
Abdul (1905-1985) writer, educationist and scholar. Born on 2 December
1905 in a poor Muslim family of the village of Hajinagar under Harirampur
upazila of Manikganj district he was the son of Maulavi Wasimuddin Ahmed
and Nasimunnesa. All along a brilliant student, Abdul Hakim stood
second in the Matriculation Examination in 1922 and first in the I Sc
Examination in 1924.
He stood first in the First Class in both Honours and MA Examinations
in Mathematics from the Dhaka University in 1927 and 1928 respectively
and was awarded the Kalinarayan Scholarship for his performance
in the Honours Examination. He sailed for England for higher studies
and obtained Honours degree with Tripose in Mathematics from the
Cambridge University in 1930 and MA degree in Mathematics in 1931
from the same university. He made an extensive tour of Europe
before returning home.
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Khan Bahadur Abdul Hakim |
Returning home Abdul Hakim served the Karatia Sa'dat
College and Krishnanagar Government College for a short time in 1931.
Soon, in 1932, he joined the education department of the Government of
Bengal as the Sub-Divisional Inspector of Schools. Within a short time
he was promoted and performed the responsibilities of the District Inspector
of Schools of Bogra and Mymensingh districts from 1934 to 1938. In view
of implementing the Bengal Rural Primary Education Act, 1930, ak
fazlul huq, the Chief Minister of Bengal, appointed Abdul Hakim
a Special Officer for the primary education of Bengal (1938-1943). He
made some significant contributions in spreading free primary education
in East Bengal. At that lime he edited an educational newspaper namely
Banglar Shiksak (the Teacher of Bengal). In recognition of his
contributions as an educationist, the government honoured Abdul Hakim
with the titles of 'Khan Saheb' in 1939.
Khan Saheb Abdul Hakim served as the Divisional Inspector of Schools of the Dhaka and Presidency Divisions (1943-1947). In 1944 the government was pleased to award him the title of 'Khan Bahadur'. Abdul Hakim served as the Assistant Director of Public Instructions (1947-1956) and the Director of Public Instructions (DPI) of the Government of East Pakistan (1956-1959). He performed the responsibilities of the Member-Secretary of the East Pakistan Education Reforms Commission in 1956. Abdul Hakini authored several books on public education in Bengal. He was the Chief Editor (1961-1976) of all the four volumes of the Banla vishwa-kos which were published during the period from 1972 to 1977 under the Franklin Books Programmes of Dhaka and New York.
Khan Bahadur Abdul Hakim was an active member of the
Senate and the Syndicate of the University of Dhaka, a life member of
the Bangla Academy and a Fellow and the President (1982) of the Asiatic
Society of Bangladesh. He founded a Trust Fund of taka one lakh in the
Bangladesh Asiatic Society in 1984. The Government of Bangladesh awarded
him the 'Ekushe Padak' in 1984. Khan Bahadur Abdul Hakim died on
14 June 1985 at the age of 80. [Muhammad Abdus Salam] |
