Playwright Momtazuddin dies at 84

Prominent playwright, director and actor Momtazuddin Ahmed has died from old-age complications in Apollo Hospital in Dhaka at the age of 84.

Momtazuddin passed on at 3:48pm, said Sammilita Sangskritik Jote President Golam Kuddus. He was one of the most successful theatre activists in the field of satire in Bangladesh.

Kuddus said Momtazuddin’s body was taken to the Azad Mosque at Gulshan for a bathe from the hospital.

A Namaz-e-Janaza was held the Madinah Mosque in Mirpur after Isha prayers.

After another Namaz-e-Janaza at the Dhaka University’s central mosque at 10am on Monday, Momtazuddin's mortal remains will be taken to his ancestral home at Bholahat in Chanpainawabganj for burial, Kuddus said.

Born in Chapainawabganj on Jan 18, 1935, Momtazuddin became one of the pioneering thespians to have contributed to the Bengali culture. He joined the 1952 Language Movement when he was a student of Rajshahi Govt College.

He was among the leaders who flouted a government ban to commemorate 21 Feb in 1952 by building a makeshift Shaheed Minar at the Rajshahi College Muslim Hostel. He was sent to jail several times due to his activism during the Pakistani era. 

Momtazuddin taught Bengali, Sanskrit and European drama at several non-government and government colleges for over 32 years. He was a professor of Bangla at Jagannath University, and a part-time lecturer at the Department of Music and Dramatics at Dhaka University.

Momtazuddin was also a director of the Department of Research and Publications at Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy, and served as an educationist at the National Curriculum and Textbook Board.

Rabindra Bharati University included his playwrights "Ki Chaho Shankhachil” and "Raja Onushwarer Pala" in its curriculum.

Several of his notable plays are also included in primary, secondary and higher secondary curricula in Bangladesh.

As the recognition of his outstanding contribution to the field of theatre and literature, Momtazuddin received Bangla Academy Award in 1976 and Ekushey Padak in 1997.

In addition to plays, he has penned novels, articles and columns apart from acting in television, film and theatre. Most of his directions and writings were staged by his troupe 'Theatre'.