Mustafa Majid

Mustafa Majid (born April 14, 1955, in the Patuakhali district of Bangladesh) is a researcher and writer. He is best known for his work on aboriginal tribes of the country.^[1]

Life and career

He studied public administration at the Dhaka University for his bachelor's and master's. Later he obtained M. Phil and Ph.D. degrees from the same university for his research on the Rakhaine aborigines of Bangladesh. Currently a senior executive in Bangladesh Bank, the central bank of the country, he worked as a journalist in different newspapers including the weekly Kishore Bangla. In addition to research, he writes poetry and has published a number of anthologies. Majid is known for his scientific positivism, imbibed with the ideals of Marxism, Leninism and thoughts of Mao Zedong. He is an organizer of children's organisation 'Kanchi-Kanchar Mela', a life member of Bangla Academy and an executive member of National Poetry Council of Bangladesh. He is also a member of the National Press Club. In 1971, he took part in the liberation war of Bangladesh. Majid is the General Manager of the Department of Public Relations and Publications, of Bangladesh Bank.

Works

Majid has carried out extensive on research on public administration, Dhaka University from the department of Public Administration. His endless curiosity about the small ethnic minorities living far away from the mainstream has produced pioneering books on ethnic communities like Manna, Garo, Hajong and Tripura as well as the Rakhaines. His research on the existence of Mongoloid community in Bangladesh is revealing.

The Rakhaines

In 2005, the Ph.D. thesis of Majid was published under the title The Rakhaines. He worked on the Rakhaines for over twenty years. The Rakhaines of the coastal areas of Patuakhali, Borguna and Cox's Bazaar migrated to what is now Bangladesh from Burma about two hundred years ago and turned the uncultivable deep forests of the coastal belt into a habitable area. Mustafa Majid informs that the Rakhaines are Mongoloid who have many problemms including tyranny by the mainstream population, but being peace-loving they never choose to go for a protest or struggle. However, some have left the country in search of security. The book has seven chapters in which the author deals with theories of administration, identities of the Rakhaines and a chronicle of Patuakhali district, the anthropological identity of the Rakhaines, their land problems and the unsympathetic role played by the llocal administration in relation to their persistent problems. He suggested for planned governmental effort for their inclusion in the mainstream.

Publications

Mustafa Majid has published 34 books so far (2007) including 13 books on aboriginals of Bangladesh and 4 on public administration. He has 8 titles to his credit that are poetry and memoirs. Some of the important titles are: Theory of Public Administration, Bureaucracy of Bangladesh, Military Bureaucracy in Bangladesh and Nature of Leadership in Bangladesh, Present Day Monologues and Time and Nation in Transformation, The entity of Manna Garo, Hajong and Tripura and The entity of Mongoloid Ethnic Minority in Bangladesh. He has published six books of verse, one of them being Diary of a Nepalese Maoist Guerrilla. He has also edited the Bengali version of the collection of Mao Zedong Poems. He also wrote a biographical book on General Ataul Gani Osmani who was the Commander-in-Chief of Bangladesh liberation war in 1971. He has also produced some books for the children.^[2]

Citations

References

• Lekhok Ovidhan, 1999, Bangla Academy, Dhaka.
• Mustafa Majid, The Rakhaines, 2005, Mawla Brothers, Dhaka.