A Homage to Professor Mohammad Ali, an Unsung Hero of His Time
CHOWDHURY MOHAMMAD ALI
Like many others I feel very much privileged and lucky to have the chance to be a student of such a legendary scholar whose charming personality and range of learning impressed anybody whoever came in contact with him. He is late Professor Mohammad Ali (1934- 2021), an Oxford scholar and a legendary figure of our time. He was a true portrait of an ideal teacher whose whole life was dedicated to the apparently charmless profession of teaching. He was the founder Head of the English department of Chittagong University. He had been a Reader in English at Rajshahi University for almost ten years before he came to join Chittagong University in 1967. Since then he had been employed in teaching there until he got retired in 1996. Besides teaching, Sir also occupied some very important administrative positions later. First he was the Vice-Chancellor of Chittagong University, the institution he worked in as a senior professor for a long time. Then he worked as the Member of Bangladesh University Grants Commission for a term. He had also worked later as the vice-chancellor of three renowned private universities of the country successively before he finally started his retired life at home. This renowned legendary educationist of the country breathed his last on June 24, 2021.
It was in Chittagong University I first saw Ali Sir at his English department. That was a very memorable moment for me, really the impression was simply ‘love at first sight’. I still vividly remember the very day of my first visit to English Department. It was an October morning of 1977. Syed Jafar Ahmed, a friend of mine who was one year senior to me and had been my school mate, took me to the department to collect an application form for admission.
It was a desire I have cherished in my mind since my school life that I would study at the department of English. Though I had my school and college education in a very remote village, for some very special reasons I became familiar with the term ‘university’ at a very early stage of my life. As inhabitants of Chittagong district in the late sixties, it was a matter of great joy and enthusiasm for all of us to know that a new university just started functioning in Chittagong. Moreover, one of the founder heads of the first four departments of the new university happened to be from my own village. Late Professor Dr. Abdul Karim, who was my close neighbour, came from Dhaka University to head the new History Department of Chittagong University. Furthermore, Professor Karim helped some of our villagers get employed in different positions of the newly established university. Thus, from my neighbours and villagers, at a very early stage of my life I got the chance to know and hear much about the university in general and Chittagong University in particular. Even during our school days we came to know that Professor Dr. Abdul Karim was the Head of the department of History, Professor Syed Ali Ahsan was the Head of the department of Bengali, and likewise, Professor Mohammad Ali was the Head of the department of English at Chittagong University. In the same way, I came to hear much about Ali Sir and his department of English even when I was a school student. Later when I got admitted into Banskhali (Degree) College for HSC, one of our revered teachers Late Professor Manindra Nath Sarker also used to tell us a lot about the contemporary leading university professors of the country. Thus, there had been a strong fascination in me for Professor Mohammad Ali long before I came to see him physically.
Professor Ali was the sole attraction for me when I came to the department of English for admission. I still relish reminiscing my first encounter with Ali Sir. He was the chair of the Viva Board that I faced for admission in first year Honours. The experience was simply amazing. I can still very well remember that very question he asked me, my reply to which caused a roar of laughter in the board.
As mentioned earlier, I had heard much about Professor Mohammad Ali before I came to the department for study. He was a legendary figure of fame and name known all over the country as a distinguished scholar of English. He was known to be an Oxford scholar of extraordinary calibre. His brilliant career of securing first class in all the examinations in life was a matter of surprise and envy for anybody. Besides, his outstanding performance as a teacher earned a great respect and popularity among the students. To the outsiders he was known to be a very handsome figure neatly dressed, decent in manner and unusual in scholarship. To me what is most attractive and adorable about him is his charming personality. What a great man he is! What a noble heart he has!
Professor Mohammad Ali was the main attraction in the department. We, the students of the department, used to keep looking at him with deep respect and awe. We used to notice very eagerly his every step at the department. The way he spoke, the way he taught, the way he behaved —- were all attractive and adorable. He was an idol of both teachers and students at the department. He was a role model of an ideal professor too for us. I think Ali Sir is most successful as a teacher. Of all his achievements, the greatest is his performance in the classroom. He is unique and by far the most successful as a teacher. In my life I found no other professor as successful and entertaining as he. It’s just wonderful to listen to his lectures. I still recall those of his lectures that he gave us on Spenser, Milton, Chaucer, medieval literature and sociolinguistics. It was equally wonderful and enjoyable to listen to his reciting of poems from Chaucer, Spenser or Milton. His resonant booming voice still rings in my ear. He was an authority on whatever he taught us. He was also an expert and authority on Middle and Old English. We, the students of the department, would eagerly keep waiting for his classes.
Later when I joined the department as a teacher, I got that rare privilege of knowing Professor Mohammad Ali personally and more closely. In personal life also, he was a wonderfully impressive personality. Anyone who came in contact with him was just impressed and became a fan of him. His charming personality had a wonderful attractive power that could capture anyone’s interest. Talking to him is a pleasant experience for all. I found very few persons so charming and impressive in table talk as he. Talking to him was always rewarding for me. Every time I had a discourse with him, I got enriched and enlightened. His range of reading was so wide that he could speak on any issue with confidence and authority. The simple impression about him is: so learned a man but so modest!
I always felt tempted to compare Ali Sir with the great literary giant of the eighteenth century English literature, Dr. Samuel Johnson. Of course, Sir was a great fan of Dr. Johnson and Boswell’s Life of Samuel Johnson was one of his favourite books. I was always impressed by his sharp wit and delicate sense of humour. Really, he was a perpetual fountain of humour. Above all, he has a big heart, a very big heart. He could only think of doing good to people. Doing harm to others and taking revenge upon anybody never polluted his heart.
Professor Ali’s contribution to the field of teaching and education was in no way less important. He was equally successful in education administration. He played a key role in the formative stage of Chittagong University. He was the first Dean of the university. As the Dean, he was entirely responsible for designing the curricula of the new university, which he discharged very successfully to the utmost satisfaction of all concerned. Thus, he not only raised the new English department of the new university as the founding Head but also contributed enormously in designing the curricula of the whole university as its first Dean. Moreover, he helped the administration of the new university in various ways by working on almost all the committees and was involved as a member in all the statutory bodies of the university. In this way, he was actively involved in raising the English department as well as the new university. Thus, with the demise of Professor Mohammad Ali, we lost the only surviving member of the team who were actively involved in giving the newly established Chittagong University a proper shape and direction at the time of its inception.
His contribution to the nation building as well as to the promotion of English Language Teaching (ELT) in the country was also very significant. He was the Inspector of Colleges of Chittagong University from the very beginning. Since the university was initially established as an affiliating university, all the degree awarding colleges/institutions of the eastern region of the country i.e. greater Chittagong division were affiliated with the university. Thus, as the first Inspector of Colleges of the university, his role in promoting higher and quality education was of huge importance, the responsibility of which he shouldered quite responsibly with grand success. Not only that, side by side as the Head of the department of English his role in the promotion of English language teaching was also very much laudable. Especially, at a time immediately after the Liberation War when there was wide-spread corruption and adoption of unfair means in public degree examinations of the country, his bold and courageous role in upholding the standard of teaching and ensuring quality education was unprecedented. As both the Inspector of Colleges and the Head of the department of English, he boldly faced the situation and never bowed down to any undue pressure from any quarter and never compromised with his principles and ethics. Later also he kept his head always high and straight, even during his tenure as the Vice-Chancellor. He was a man who would rather resign from the post of VC than bow down to any kind of pressure. Thus, wherever he worked on whatever strength, he was rigid in his principle and ethics, and maintained his upright stance and personality. He was a man of principle who was to break but not to bow down at any cost.
He also played an important role in policy making at the national level. His was one of the pioneering roles in introducing private university education in the country. During his tenure as the Member of UGC, the Private University Act was passed for the first time, the draft of which was actually his brain child.
However, it is very unfortunate for all of us that we failed to give proper recognition to the dedicated service of Professor Mohammad Ali to the nation which had been long deserving for him during his life time. In spite of his huge contribution to the field of education, he had remained unknown and unsung throughout his life. He was kept deprived of the due recognition he well deserved for his labour and service to the nation, which was a matter of regret and shame for all of us.
I was lucky not only to be able to come in contact with him but also to benefit from his affection, association and generosity. Personally I feel ever grateful to this great man for his constant shower of blessings, affection and love on me. It was for his generosity to a large extent that my life got a definite shape and destiny. I pray for this great soul. May his departed soul rest in eternal peace. May Allah (SWT) forgive him and reward him with Jannatul Ferdous. Long live our Ali Sir in our memory, in the memory of thousands of his students, colleagues and well-wishers.
Chowdhury Mohammad Ali: Former Professor at University of Chattogram.
