The Blue Sting is a remarkably well-written short novel with the Bangladesh War of Liberation of 1971 as its theme. The novel, however, does not describe for the reader the heroic struggles of our freedom fighters or the terrible sufferings our common people underwent during their nine-month long ordeal. The protagonist of the novel is one Nazrul Islam, a simple, ordinary citizen of Bangladesh, a member of the middle-class with a small job in the city of Dhaka. His evil star is his name and the fact that his original home was Burdwan of West Bengal, India, which was also the home of the great Bengali rebel poet Kazi Nazrul Islam. From this unlucky coincidence a bizarre situation develops. Some incredibly stupid officers of the Pakistani occupation army take Nazrul Islam of Haq’s novel as our rebel poet Kazi Nazrul Islam and subjects him to inhuman brutal tortures, which finally lead to his death. In a way, it is a tour de force, admirably executed. The torture scenes will remind the reader of Franz Kafka and Arthur Koestler.
Syed Shamsul Haq was born in a small town called Kurigram on 27 December in 1935. His father was Syed Siddique Husain, a homeopathic physician. His mother was Halima Khatun. His father came to Kurigram to pursue in the practice of medicine. Traditionally they belonged to a Peer (Saint) family. But Haq's father broke the family tradition and studied in the main stream course of English education and then took up Medicine.
Haq passed his childhood in Kurigram. During his childhood he observed the events of World War II.
Syed Shamsul Haq writes poetry, fiction, plays- mostly in verse and essays. His literary works were included in the curriculum of school level, secondary, higher secondary and graduation level Bengali literature in Bangladesh.
Translator : Kabir Chowdhury
Kabir Chowdhury (1923-2012) is a noted translator, critic and essayist. His elegant and lively English translation of Bengali poems, novels and short stories have been widely acclaimed at home and abroad.
He has received many national and international awards for his contributions in the field of literature and peace
