Sanskriti Sangsad
Sanskriti Sangsad the central cultural organisation of Dhaka University, was established in 1951. Later it was renamed the Dhaka Vishwavidyalay Sangskriti Sangsad. It was basically inspired by socialistic thoughts and the ideals of the Russian revolution. It was against imperialism and dictatorship and believed in non-communal progressive ideologies.
Among those who played a pioneering role in setting up this organisation were Obaidul Haq Sarkar, Anwarul Azim, hasan hafizur rahman Obaidullah Khan, munier chowdhury and Khan Sarwar Murshid. Young East Bengali intellectuals, poets, litterateurs, cultural activists, journalists and researchers were associated with it in many ways. Khan Sarwar Murshid was its founder president and Mustafa Nurul Islam its general secretary.
Sangskriti Sangsad played a leading role in arranging non-communal cultural activities in East Pakistan. It made its first public appearance on 4 September 1951 with the staging of bijan bhattacharya's play Jabanbandi at mahbub ali institute. This was the first time that girl students acted on stage. In due course the organisation staged tulsi lahirhi's Pathik (1953), meghnadbadh (1954), Banaful's Kabay (1954) and rabindranath tagore's raktakarabi (1956). It also staged the dance-drama Shyama (1962 and 1964) and Jvalchhe Agun Ksete Khamare (1966). It also held musical performances, organised regular literary and discussion meetings, and celebrated the birthdays of Rabindranath Tagore, kazi nazrul islam and sukanta bhattacharya. Among its other activities were issuing posters. In 1958 it arranged a ten-day cultural programme with the support of the bangla academy. Other well-known persons associated with the Sangskriti Sangsad were Giasuddin Ahmad, ANM Golam Mustafa, mujibur rahman khan, Rafiqul Islam, Sanjida Khatun, Mohammad Maniruzzaman, Mumtazuddin Ahmad, moksudus salehin, bazlul karim, Shahid Khan, Zia Haidar, Zahirul Haq, Abdullah Al Mamun, Ramendu Majumdar, Faruk Alamgir, Rashid Haidar, Asad Chowdhury, Musa Ahmad, Ataur Rahman, Qamrunnahar Laily, Zahrat Ara Khanam, Fahmida Khatun, Ferdousi Majumdar and Maleka Begum The Sangsad was an associate organisation of the East Pakistan Students Union. The division of international communist politics in 1965 led to a division in the East Pakistan Students Union as well as in the Sangsad. Subsequently its cultural activities suffered a decline. Presently the organisation is defunct. [Sambaru Chandra Mohanta]
