Background
Doctor Ahmed Sharif was born on 13 February 1921 in Patiya, Chittagong District, did his Masters and Ph.
Doctor Ahmed Sharif was born on 13 February 1921 in Patiya, Chittagong District, did his Masters and Ph.
Doctorate degrees in Bengali literature from the University of Dhaka, in 1944 and 1967 respectively. From 1945 to 1949, he taught at Laksham Nawab Faizunnessa College and later on at Feni College. From July 1949 to 17 December 1950 he worked as Programme Assistant at the Dhaka station of the Radio Pakistan.
Finally, on December 18, 1950 he joined as Research Assistant in the Bengali Department, University of Dhaka and retired as Chairman and Professor in 1983.
Doctor Sharif remained the only person who was elected the Dean of the Faculty of Arts for three consecutive terms. He died on 24 February 1999, in Dhaka.
He was controversial because of his outspoken views against the establishment, intellectuals and political leaders, and above all religious and parochial outlooks. In an interview 1996, he gave insights into the history of the Liberation War of Bangladesh, saying that the total number of people killed "was not even 300,000", contrary to the popularly held belief in Bangladesh, that over 3 million were killed.
Ahmed Sharif is widely recognized as one of the most outspoken atheist and radical thinkers of Bangladesh. He was a controversial and misunderstood personality among his contemporaries. He was controversial because of his outspoken views against the establishment, intellectuals and political leaders, and above all religious and parochial outlooks.
He was always reluctant to be associated with government agencies. Moreover, he was often black-listed from the national media.
In an interview 1996, he gave insights into the history of the Liberation War of Bangladesh, saying that the total number of people killed "was not even 300,000", contrary to the popularly held belief in Bangladesh, that over 3 million were killed.
During his time at the DU he was elected a member of the Senate, Syndicate, and the President of Teachers Association and the University Teachers Club.