Profile - Salimullah Khan

Salimullah Khan

General Information

Academic, Columnist, Essayist and Critic

University Professor

Full Name: Salimullah Khan

Affiliation: University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (ULAB)

Current Position: Professor

Date of Birth: August 18, 1958

Place of Birth: Bangladesh

Home District: Cox’s Bazar

Nationality: Bangladeshi

Background:

Salimullah Khan(born 18 August 1958) is a Bangladeshi writer, thinker, critic, and public intellectual. Regarded as an eminent thinker of Bangladesh, Khan explores national and international politics and culture using Marxist and Lacanian theories. Informed and influenced by Ahmed Sofa's thoughts, his exploration of Bangladesh's politics and culture has a significant following among the country's young generation of writers and thinkers. Khan translated the works of Plato, James Rennell, Charles Baudelaire, Frantz Fanon, Dorothee Sölle into Bengali.

Khan studied Law at the University of Dhaka. In 1976, he met noted intellectual Ahmed Sofa, who introduced him to Professor Abdur Razzaq. In 1983, he joined University of Rajshahi as a teacher. For a brief period, he taught at the Institute of Business Administration, University of Dhaka. In 1986, he went to the United States for studying Economics. Returning home, he joined a private university as a faculty. He worked as the Chief Academic Advisor and a professor in the Department of Law at Stamford University, Dhaka, Bangladesh. Currently he is a Professor of General Education at theUniversity of Liberal Arts - Bangladesh (ULAB).

Khan first came to prominence during his days as a student at the University of Dhaka when he wrote a book on Abdur Razzaq’s famous lecture: “Bangladesh: State of the Nation" in 1981. While a student, he edited a periodical called Praxis Journal. Currently he regularly contributes articles in Bengali and English newspapers in Bangladesh. Khan writes mainly on history, philosophy, politics, literature & sychoanalysis. He has written a number of articles on colonialism and imperialism, Bengali language, 1857 War of Indian Independence, 1947 partition, communalism and the relationship between religion and politics, Bangladesh Liberation War and also wrote on issues such as the Rohingya question etc. Khan has also written on Lalon Shah, Ramaprasad Chanda, Kazi Nazrul Islam, Jasimuddin, Roquia Sakhawat Hussain, Ahmed Sofa, Abul Hasan, film maker Tareque Masud and some of his contemporaries. He wrote philosophical commentaries on the works of Charles Baudelaire, Walter Benjamin, Michel Foucault, Frantz Fanon, Claude Lévi-Strauss, Edward Said, Aime Cesaire, Talal Asad and many others.

Khan has translated the works of Plato, James Rennell, Jacques Lacan, Charles Baudelaire, Frantz Fanon, Dorothee Sölle into Bengali. He is associated with a number of organizations such as Center for Asian Arts and Cultures, Ahmad Sofa Rashtra Sabha etc. He has held seminar sessions at the Center for Asian Arts and Cultures on different thinkers and issues.

Khan's views are influenced by Karl Marx and Jacques Lacan. He has been critical of Rabindranath Tagore’s prescriptions on Bengali orthography. Khan advocates wider official use of Bengali language in Bangladesh.

While Khan's views have often been considered to be analogous to Farhad Mazhar's, he has been strongly critical of Mazhar's position in recent years. In a 2011 debate arranged by bdnews24.com, Salimullah Khan sharply differed from Mazhar on the film Meherjaan. Khan criticized the film's representation of 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War. In 2013, in the backdrop of Shahbagh Movement in Dhaka, Salimullah Khan came out in strong support of the movement denounced communal attacks and criticized Farhad Mazhar's position with regard to the events.

Selected Works

Essays