Afsar Ahmed. (Sanjoy Chattopadhyaya)

An award-winning writer, whose work was made into a film by Mrinal Sen, has been working as a casual employee at the Bangla Akademi for 13 years.

Afsar Ahmed has penned 27 novels and 14 non-fiction and children’s books. He has received Katha Award for a short story, Sarat Sahitya Purashkar for lifetime achievement and a Sahitya Akademi award for translation of a novel from Urdu to Bengali. His novel Bibir Mitthye Talaq O Talaquer Bibi Ebong Halud Pakhir Kissa, was in the school curriculum in Assam.

Raat Kota Holo?, the screen version of his novel Hatyar Promod Jani, was recently shown at the Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute. Sen had made his last film, Amar Bhuban, based on Ahmed’s novel Dhan Jyotsna, in 2002.

The Muslim society forms the backdrop of most of his works. The narratives are tapestries of realism, fantasy and folklore, with criticism of unjust laws. There have been threats to his life and social ostracism but he feels it is his duty to protest.

Born in Bagnan, Howrah in 1959, Ahmed was a full-time writer till financial problems forced him to join the Bangla Akademi, where permanent employment has continued to elude him. Even if one ignores Ahmed’s literary achievements, his educational qualifications (masters in Bengali from Calcutta University) are enough to earn him a higher post.

“When he applied for the post of an editor at the Bangla Akademi, a schoolteacher with political connections was preferred over him,” said an official who did not want to be named.

Busy writing to meet deadlines for the Puja numbers of magazines, he sees hope in a recent meeting of the new Bangla Akademi committee headed by writer Mahasweta Devi.