I am successful as a teacher, not as a writer

Essayist and educationist Professor Jatin Sarker (August 18, 1936 –August 13, 2025) was a man enriched through the pursuit of knowledge, who, standing on his own soil, could witness the sunrise of the entire world. By reading his autobiographical work The Birth and Death of Pakistan – A Vision, one can easily understand how he became Jatin Sarker. He was a follower of the philosophy of ‘dialectical and historical materialism’, a line of thought reflected in his book “Bangalir Samajtantrik Oitihyo” (The Socialist Tradition of the Bengali). However, he believed that in his work “Prakritojoner Jibondorshon” (Life Philosophy of the Common People), he expressed a distinctive and original perspective. His first book, Expectations from Literature, was published in 1985, when he was fifty. Including all genres, he published nearly fifty books in total. On Wednesday (13 August), this great thinker passed away. Long before his death, poet Shishir Rajan had interviewed him. The interview is being published here in memory of Jatin Sarker.

Views Bangladesh: How do you assess the current education system in Bangladesh?

Jatin Sarker: I do not feel encouraged to say anything good or bad about the education system. I do not believe that the prevailing system has any provision for producing truly educated people. In this system, no one aspires to be a ‘learner’; instead, they become ‘examinees’ or ‘mark-seekers’. In reality, the education system is intricately linked with the social system. Without a revolutionary change in our social structure, no education commission or committee will be able to formulate a sound education system. Therefore, my evaluation of the social system is the same as my evaluation of the education system.

Through the Liberation War, we pledged to build a certain kind of society, and we enshrined that commitment in our Constitution. In order to implement those constitutional principles, the Qudrat-i-Khuda Education Commission was formed, which presented an excellent report. Had our education system been guided by that report, we could have made significant progress in establishing the values of the Liberation War. But the political shift in 1975 turned everything upside down, and to this day, we have not recovered from that reversal. Instead, we have resorted to patchwork compromises. Such compromises can neither establish the values of the Liberation War nor bring about a progressive education system. Therefore, completing the unfinished Liberation War has become an urgent necessity. Only then will it be possible to introduce the desired education system.

Views Bangladesh: What is your favourite book in Bengali literature that you have read? Could you briefly explain why?

Jatin Sarker: Ramayana by Krittibas is my favourite book. Though composed in the medieval period, I find extraordinary modernity in it. In this book, human beings are placed above the gods; even the gods cannot accomplish anything without taking human form. In Krittibas’s Ramayana, Ravana, the King of Lanka, appears as the embodiment of a strong and intelligent human being. Michael Madhusudan Dutt’s portrayal of Ravana as a great character in his epic “Meghnadbodh Kabya” (The Slaying of Meghnad) essentially draws from Krittibas’s Ramayana. While some claim that Madhusudan was mainly influenced by Milton and other Western poets, that is largely an exaggeration.

Views Bangladesh: Of your many published works, which do you consider your ‘best’?

Jatin Sarker: Your question is very difficult to answer. No author would willingly call any of their works inferior. I am supposed to like each of my books for different reasons. But you know what? I do not consider myself a writer at all. You might think I am just being modest, but you know I am not modest—in many matters, I can even be arrogant. Still, I do not wish to call myself either modest or immodest; I simply try to tell the truth. The truth is that I have been a teacher all my life. Teaching was not merely my profession; it was the medium through which I expressed my philosophy of life. As a teacher, I consider myself entirely successful. Whatever I have written is simply another form of teaching. But when measured against standards of excellence, I have never been fully satisfied with any of my writings, and I do not consider myself a writer. Therefore, I feel awkward pointing to any particular book as my best. Yet, since you have asked, I must—albeit hesitantly—say that “The Life Philosophy of the Common People” is probably my best book.

Views Bangladesh: But this book does not seem to have been very popular with readers.

Jatin Sarker: I understand what you mean. As I said, I am successful as a teacher, not as a writer. The book in which I have best expressed my teaching style is the one I must call my best work. In fact, I began writing only at the age of forty, in 1976, when I was imprisoned without trial. With nothing else to do in prison, I thought of writing a Bengali grammar book in the same storytelling style I used in my school and college classes—a style my students greatly enjoyed. While in prison, I experimented with that idea and wrote a large manuscript entitled “Byakoroner Voy Okaron” (The Fear of Grammar is Unfounded). This work was essentially an extension of my teaching. During my eighteen months of imprisonment, I wrote several other pieces as well, all in the style of a teacher.

Views Bangladesh: “Pakistaner Jonmo Mrityu-Dorshon” (The Birth and Death of Pakistan – A Vision) is probably your most popular book. Why do you not consider it your best?

Jatin Sarker: As I have said before, in “The Birth and Death of Pakistan – A Vision”, I tried to present the roles of people I had personally known. I do not know how successful I was in that attempt, but the book’s extraordinary popularity has both pleased and surprised me. Many readers have said it contains what is absent in conventional histories. My philosophical reflections, expressed in a coherent form in “The Life Philosophy of the Common People”, are conveyed in “The Birth and Death of Pakistan – A Vision” through my personal experiences in the form of a memoir. Perhaps that is why readers liked it. I am, of course, grateful to them. “The Life Philosophy of the Common People” did not attract readers’ attention in the same way, but in my own judgement, it surpasses all my other books.

Views Bangladesh: As a lifelong small-town resident, have you ever felt any dissatisfaction?

Jatin Sarker: No. Having been born and lived all my life in a small town, I am deeply content and proud. The common people of the rural areas have been my teachers, and I have tried to reflect the lessons I learned from them in my speech and writing. I am entirely a ‘rustic’ person. I feel suffocated in cities. I consider myself very fortunate never to have had to live in a metropolis.

Views Bangladesh: Who do you think contributed most to the shaping of your mind?

Jatin Sarker: First of all, my grandfather and my father. They shaped my thinking from early childhood, and I still stand on that foundation. Beyond that, I have drawn inspiration from so many different people over time that it is impossible to list them all. In the words of a song I heard in my boyhood, “My true teachers and false teachers, my teachers are countless.”

Views Bangladesh: What do you think is the way out of our overall national crisis?

Jatin Sarker: In answering this question, I must say—you know my philosophy of life.

Views Bangladesh: Dialectical materialism.

Jatin Sarker: Yes. I have embraced dialectical and historical materialism as my philosophy of life. As Marx and Engels, the proponents of this philosophy, have said: “It is not enough to interpret the world; the point is to change it.” To solve the present crisis in all its dimensions, we must change the social system. In doing so, everyone must contribute as much as they can—“Whatever is within my power, I will do.” Applying only superficial remedies will not suffice; we must draw upon the spirit of our independence. In achieving independence, we gained a country whose first constitution had four fundamental principles. These principles still exist in name, but in reality, we have drifted so far from them that they no longer offer a path to overcoming our crisis. We must truly return to these four principles—strengthening secularism, fostering a national consciousness free from hatred, and building a democratic system with socialism as the ultimate goal.

The first requirement for tackling the overall crisis is a social and cultural movement—the kind of movement that led, through armed struggle, to our independence. Unfortunately, after independence, we abandoned that path. We must return to it and build a social and cultural movement worthy of an independent nation. I will not say that nothing has been done; there are still scattered efforts. These fragments will inevitably come together. I cannot predict how many years it will take—that is for astrologers. But we must recognise and follow the course and science of history. It will happen. Who will make it happen? You will. I will. Everyone will. And we must remember — “Whatever is within my power, I will do.”