Muhammad Habibur Rahman was popularly known as Shelly Bhai to most of his friends and admirers. All his books, poems and articles carry his name simply as Muhammad Habibur Rahman without prefixing the title of Justice.
Shelly Bhai was born in Murshidabad (now in West Bengal, India) on December 3, 1928. He studied at the Presidency College, Kolkata, Rajshahi College and Dhaka University. He was a brilliant student, and obtained first class and stood first in both BA (Hons) and MA exams.
Shelly Bhai was involved in politics during his student life. He showed his leadership quality when he was the vice-president of the Salimullah Muslim Hall Union. At that time, only the most meritorious students of the university were elected to such positions. He joined the University of Dhaka as a lecturer of history in 1952. He could not continue in this position for long because of his involvement in the 1952 language movement.
Shelly Bhai was one of the eleven students who gathered secretly on the bank of the Fazlul Huq Hall pond on the night of February 20, 1952 and decided to defy Section 144. On February 21, he was in the first group of 10 students that proceeded towards the provincial assembly, defying the restrictions. The police soon opened fire on them without any warning. Luckily, he was not hurt, but got arrested immediately, and was taken to jail.
Having lost his first job for political reasons, Shelly Bhai found a unique method of protesting against his unfair dismissal. He started to sell cigarettes inside the university campus, like typical vendors usually seen at railway stations, causing great embarrassment to the University of Dhaka. The principal of Jagannath College immediately offered him a job. Having served in a couple of private colleges, he found a government job at the Rajshahi College and went to England for higher studies. He completed honours in modern history from Oxford University in 1958 and obtained a masters degree in 1962. In between the two degrees, he did his bar from Lincolns Inn. He joined the Rajshahi University as reader in history after his return from England.
Shelly Bhai changed his profession in 1964 and joined the bar at the Dhaka High Court in 1964. He was appointed as a judge of the High Court Division of the Supreme Court in 1976, and was elevated to the Appellate Division in 1985. He served as acting chief justice between 1991 and 1995, and as chief justice in 1995. He was the chief adviser of the first caretaker government of Bangladesh during the 1996 parliamentary election.
This is brief the life sketch of Shelly Bhai, which tells very little of the multifarious and unique qualities he possessed. Many people have written about him as a legal expert, judge, administrator, and author. I shall mainly concentrate on what I know about him from my personal contacts and observations.
I first heard about Shelly Bhai from my brother, Abdul Momin, the minister for food in the cabinet of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman – also a classmate of Shelly Bhai at Presidency College, Kolkata, and also at the University of Dhaka. Other prominent persons who studied with him at both the institutions are Professor Zillur Rahman Siddiqui and Dr Anwar Hossain, former chairman of Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission.
I was introduced to Shelly Bhai at a party at my brother’s house at Azimpur in 1965. Many prominent political leaders, including Bangabandhu and Tajuddin Ahmed, were present at the party. On the same occasion, Shelly Bhai also met Bangabandhu formally for the first time. I hardly met Shelly Bhai since then as I stayed away from Bangladesh most of the time. I met him briefly at his chamber on a few occasions and once in Jeddah when he went to perform Hajj.
I saw him occasionally at the Ramna Park after 1991, during morning walks. Being a judge, he kept himself aloof from many of his acquaintances at that time. We simply exchanged greetings during our meetings. He became friendlier to me after his retirement in 1995. Gradually we began to walk together, pray together on Fridays, and even shop together at kitchen markets. He was kind enough to visit my house quite often and the door of his house was always open to me. We shared hours together over cups of coffee.
Shelly Bhai was a very modest person in spite of the fact that he occupied very high positions in life. He lived a very simple life. He always dressed modestly. He never hesitated to come in front of guests at his house wearing a traditional lungi. His advisers were surprised to see him presiding over cabinet meetings in very informal dresses. His house never had any fancy furniture. He had more books than the racks could contain. I saw stacks of books lying on the floor when he moved from his official residence to a small rented house in Moghbazar. His writing table had piles of reading and writing materials scattered all over it. Shelly Bhai liked to wash his personal clothes, and did so until he had a major surgery involving the replacement of his hip joint a couple years ago.
Shelly Bhai liked Bengali food, fish in particular. He also liked preparations of ichar (green jackfruit), dumur (fig), kolar mocha (banana cones). My wife and I had the pleasure of sharing his favourite meals with him at our house on many occasions. He also liked to drink different kinds of tea and coffee. This was perhaps his only luxury. His friends often brought varieties of tea and coffee from abroad as gifts for him. He always mentioned the name of the donor whenever he served the drinks to his guests.
It was so easy to make Shelly happy with very little things. Even though professionally I am a nuclear engineer, he used to introduce me to others as an atomic scientist.
Once, he got a traditional coffeemaker, as gift from his son-in-law, and didn’t know how to use it. I helped him to make it work. Every time he served coffee prepared in this coffeemaker, he used to mention to his guests that an atomic scientist had showed him how to use it. Whenever I protested for thanking me for such minor things, he used to say, “No help is minor. How many people are there who help others?”
Shelly Bhai liked to travel. He travelled widely abroad and within Bangladesh. He even visited my ancestral home at Netrokona and travelled with me in my small car without any protocol and security. The road was bumpy. Often he had to get out of the car when navigation became too tough, but he never complained. He stayed with us for two days, tasted the traditional pithas and fresh fish from the pond. He visited all the schools, colleges, and libraries in the locality. He travelled with me on foot or in rickshaws around the place without any hesitation.
As the head of the caretaker government, Shelly Bhai helped conduct a fair election contested by all major political parties. There was a commotion in the army soon after the sudden retirement of two senior army officers. Shelly Bhai acted swiftly but calmly and tactfully to normalise the situation. He appealed to the army personnel “not to stain the soil of Bangladesh with the blood of your brethren.” Thanks to his wise and matured handling, the conflict that could otherwise result in a serious bloodbath was resolved amicably without any major incident. When the results of the election were published, one disgruntled prominent leader rebuked Shelly Bhai in a very harsh language by telephone while he maintained a dignified calmness. Very recently, and to the great satisfaction of Shelly Bhai, the same leader admitted in public that the election of 1996 was fair and impartial.
Shelly Bhai authored about 75 books or more. I doubt if he himself knew the exact number of his books. There were 4 or 5 books about to be published at the time of his death. He wrote on varied subjects including history, law, Tagore, religion, literature, journalism, human rights, language, education, and Bangladesh. He also composed or translated many poems into English or Bengali. On whatever subject he wrote, he used to go deep into it collecting information from all possible sources. He even talked to very ordinary people like day labourers, rickshaw pullers, street vendors and children to collect materials for his articles
His Jathashabda, published in 1974, was the first thesaurus in Bengali language. It was acclaimed by all Bengali speaking people at home and abroad including Satyajiit Roy. Other books by him include Law of Requisition, Rabindra Prabandhey Sanjna O Parthakya Bichar, Matri-bhashar Sapakshey Rabindranath, Koran-sutra, Bachan O Prabachan, Gangariddhi thekey Bangladesh, Rabindra-kabyey Art, Sangeet O Sahitya, On Rights and Remedies, Amara ki Jabo-na Tader Kachhey Jara Shudhu Banglai Katha Baley, Bangladesh Deergajibi Houk, Sarkar, Sangbidhan O Odhikar, Tattabadhayak Sarkarer Daibhar, Koran Sharif: Saral Banganubad, Banglar Tarikh etc.
Shelly Bhai was a minute observer of events and incidents. While walking in the morning, he once noticed a little girl (a tokai: street urchin in Bangla) who found a pair of slippers from a rubbish dump.
The slippers did not match each other, and were of different sizes and different colours. Regardless, she picked them up, and put them on, very pleased with her discovery, started walking happily along the street. Shelly Bhai went home, and wrote a poem on the incident that was published in a newspaper. He narrated the whole incident to me, and recited the poem in front of me.
Shelly Bhai collected poems written on different languages from all over the world. It was a tough job. For collection of the poems, he approached every foreigner he came in contact with, or every person he knew who had contacts with foreigners. He finally succeeded in collecting and translating a good number of poems on foreign languages. The collection was published a couple of years ago.
Shelly Bhai enrolled in Brac University to learn the Chinese language when he was around eighty. He regularly attended classes and appeared for examinations. Several ideas prompted him to do so. First, he wanted to visit China, and also to translate some Chinese poems.
So, some knowledge of the Chinese language would be an asset to him. Second, he wanted to use the library of Brac University. This is one example to show how serious he was whenever he wanted to do something.
As a judge of the Supreme Court, Shelly Bhai gave some historic judgments. I am not competent to comment on them. He was, however, criticized by some quarters for his judgment in the case of Ghulam Azam that restored his citizenship of Bangladesh. He told me later that as a judge he had no other option. He had to go by the law – not by emotions, and found no legal clue to justify the cancellation of his citizenship.
Shelly Bhai was a Bangalee by his heart and soul. It is evident from all his writings and speeches. Joy Bangla was his most favourite slogan. He told me that no other slogan inspired him more than Joy Bangla. According to him, the slogan has a soul of its own.
Shelly Bhai’s patriotism is beyond question. He demonstrated it in all of his actions, speeches and writings. He never compromised the interests of his country, or his mother tongue.
Shelly Bhai had to struggle hard during his early life but he never complained about it. He was always satisfied with what he had. He used to say: “I have got more than I ever wished for. Why should I complain?” He also seemed to be happy with his health and did not grumble even in sickness. “What else could I expect at my age?” – he used to say often if anyone wanted to know about his health.
As a person, Shelly Bhai rarely had any comparison. He had the unique capacity of generously showering his love and affection among his friends and acquaintances. Ask anyone he knew, s/he would say: “Oh! My relationship with him was very special. I cannot explain how much he loved me!” He could mix and be friendly with people of all ages and means without any discrimination. While walking in the morning beside the Gulshan Lake, we regularly saw a young boy selling tea and cigarettes on the footpath. Shelly Bhai used to talk to him regularly, and told me the story of his life. The boy had to take this profession at his early age to feed his ailing parents. He also told me how much the boy earned every day on average. He became very worried when the boy suddenly disappeared from the spot, and could not be found any more. I have seen many ordinary people talking to him for redress of their problems.
Shelly Bhai was a very handsome person. None could miss an expression of wisdom and learning that used to sparkle from his face. He was also very witty and humorous. Nobody could ever be bored in his company.
He was very religious, but not superstitious. He used to pray five times a day. He fasted regularly during Ramadan even at his old age. He studied the Koran seriously, and tried to understand the meaning of each verse. His translation of the Koran in simple Bengali is widely read. He maintained good relationships with the followers of other religions and was very popular with them. He attended many events organised by different religious and ethnic groups in Bangladesh.
Shelly Bhai was very busy even during his last days. He had many plans for the future, mainly regarding writing of books. Often he asked me: “For how many years should I plan? Can I plan for ten years?” I used to reply: “You will live many more years, Insha-Allah.”
Shelly Bhai was in a reasonably good health. He walked regularly after Fazr prayers even in the cold winter. None of us thought he would leave us so soon. He always wished to die suddenly, without giving any trouble to anyone. Allah fulfilled his wish. After watching one of his favourite programmes on TV, he went to his bedroom to listen to the BBC news, as usual. Few minutes later, he was found lying on the floor while the radio was on in full volume. He died peacefully without troubling anyone on January 11, 2014.
Shelly Bhai attached me to him with infinite love and affection. He dedicated one of his books, “Desher Valomonda,” to me, my wife, Fariha, and daughter, Asha. I feel greatly honoured when I hear from his wife that Shelly Bhai used to tell her: “Matin is like a brother to me.”
May Allah rest Shelly Bhai’s soul in peace in heaven, Ameen.
