Noted author, novelist Maqbula Manzur passes away

GBNEWS24 DESK//

Noted author and novelist Maqbula Manzur is no more. She died at her Uttara residence in Dhaka on Friday (July 3) afternoon. She had long been suffering from old age complications.

Maqbula Manzur left behind two daughters, two sons, relatives, friends and well wishers to mourn her death.

Her death was confirmed by Dilara Mesbah, president of Bangladesh Lekhika Sangha.

Dilara Mesbah said Maqbula Manzur had been suffering various old-age complications for a long time.

Maqbula Manzur was born on September 14, 1938 at village Mugbelai under Kamarkhand upazila in Sirajganj district. Her father was Mizanur Rahman and mother Mahmuda Khatun. Mizanur Rahman was also a writer. They were seven brothers and sisters.

Her three brothers are author Dr Mokhlesur Rahman, film maker Ibne Mizan and author Aziz Meher, and three sisters are JObeda Khatun, Professor Moslema Khatun and Mushfiqa Ahmed. All of them are involved in writing. She used to act in dramas in her younger age. She was also associated with Mukul Fouj, established by artist Quamrul Hasan.

Maqbula Manzur is noted for writing from a woman’s perspective in a male-dominated society; her 1998 novel Kaler Mandira is one such example, and references female exploitation during the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971.

She is considered to be an outstanding Bangladeshi female writer, inspired by the events which led to the creation of the country in 1971.