Syed Sajjad Hussain

Syed Sajjad Hussain
সৈয়দ সাজ্জাদ হোসায়েন
Vice Chancellor of University of Rajshahi
In office 5 August 1969 – 18 July 1971
Preceded by	Muhammad Shamsul Huq
Succeeded by	Muhammad Abdul Bari
Vice Chancellor of University of Dhaka
In office 18 July 1971 – January 1972
Preceded by	Abu Sayeed Chowdhury
Succeeded by	Muzaffar Ahmed Chowdhury
Personal details
Born	(1920-01-14)14 January 1920 Alokdia, Magura, Bengal Presidency
Died	12 January 1995(1995-01-12) (aged 74) Dhaka, Bangladesh
Nationality	Pakistani-Bangladeshi
Relatives	Syed Ali Ahsan (cousin) Syed Ali Ashraf (cousin)
Alma mater	University of Dhaka University of Nottingham
Occupation	University academic

Syed Sajjad Hussain (14 January 1920 – 12 January 1995) was a Pakistani-Bangladeshi academic and writer. He served as the 4th Vice-chancellor of the University of Rajshahi.

Early life and education

Hussain was born on 14 January 1920, to a Bengali Muslim family of Syeds in the village of Alokdia in Magura (formerly under Jessore District), Bengal Province. He earned his master's in English from the University of Dhaka in 1942. During his masters studies, the East Pakistan Literary Society was founded with him as chairman. He obtained his Ph.D. from the University of Nottingham in 1952.

Career

Hussain debuted his teaching career at Calcutta Islamic College in 1944. He was a professor at Department of English of the University of Dhaka during 1948–1969. He was then appointed the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Rajshahi in 1969.

Hussain worked as a professor of English at Umm al-Qura University in Mecca, Saudi Arabia during 1975–1985. He moved back to Bangladesh in the late 1980s and lived in Dhaka until his death.

Controversy

Hussain took stance against the separation of East Pakistan as an independent country during the Bangladesh Liberation War. In March 1971, the then Vice-chancellor of the University of Dhaka, Justice Abu Sayed Chowdhury resigned from the post protesting the killing of two students by Pakistani Army. Pakistani Government immediately put Hussain in the vacant position. He was imprisoned after the independence of Bangladesh. While in prison, he wrote his memoir which was later published in 1995 titled "The Wastes of Time: Reflections on the Decline and Fall of East Pakistan". On his release, he moved to England.

Further information: 1971 Dhaka University massacre § Vice-chancellor during 1971

In popular culture

In 2021 Pakistan’s Hum TV released an historical drama based on Hussain’s book Wastes of Times, a miniseries called Khaab Toot Jaatay Hain.

Books

English

• Descriptive Catalogue of Bengal Muslims (1960)
• East Pakistan: a Profile (1962)
• Nixed Grill: A Collection of Essays on Religion and Culture (1963)
• Kipling and India: An Inquiry into the Nature and Extent of Kipling's Knowledge of the Indian Sub-Continent (1965)
• Homage to Shakespeare (1965)
• Drama in a Developing Society (1969)
• Books on the Quaid-e-Azam (1969)
• A Guide to Literary Criticism (1983) co-written with Abdel-Hamid El-Khoreiby.
• An Annotated Anthology of English Poetry for Arab Students (1984)
• A Young Muslim's Guide to Religions in the World (1992)
• Civilisation and Society (1994)
• The Wastes of Time: Reflections on the Decline and Fall of East Pakistan (1996)

Bengali

• Ma (1960)
• Nirghanta-abhidhana (1970)
• Ekattorer Smriti (1993)
• Arbi Sahiyer Itibritya