Looking back over the three decades of Shuddhashar
In 2022, the digital magazine Shuddhashar celebrated 5 years of existence from Norway and over 30 years as a platform seeking to support human rights and freedom of expression through diverse publications. The platform that originated in Bangladesh restarted as a digital magazine from a place of exile after its founder Ahmedur Rashid Chowdhury, also known as Tutul, was welcomed by the Norwegian city of Skien as an ICORN writer in residence.
As part of its ethos to encourage diverse voices, Shuddashar encourages other exiled writers to contribute their articles, as well as promote their works whenever possible. Recently, the platform began the newAvijit-Ananta Mentorship Programme for students from the global south, to help develop their writing, reading, and critical thinking skills. They have launched this month with 5 students from India and Bangladesh. Faithful to its beginnings as a publication, Shuddashar is in the process of publishing its first e-books: The Camp, an autobiographical novel by ICORN writer, Gunel Movlud, and (Re)imaging Queer Utopias: Voices from South Asia, for which Shakhawat Hossain Rajeeb, an exiled Bangladesh LGBTIQ+ activist, is the convening editor.
In an excerpt from a recent essay Tutul reflects on the many accomplishments and tribulations that the last years have brought:
“A life of uncertainty began. As soon as I regained consciousness in that hospital bed, I was haunted by questions about Shuddhashar’s future. As an intellectual movement, Shuddhashar may not have been hugely influential. It nonetheless managed to achieve success at the grassroots level in spreading politically liberal ideas through its publications. Shuddhashar’s slogan was ‘to inspire, not to impress.’ But now I felt troubled, empty, and not at all inspired.
Losing everything I had built for years left me devastated. I struggled with physical and mental traumas and with economic uncertainties. At the same time, I could not accept that this might be the final chapter of Shuddhashar’s journey.
Amidst all the uncertainties, I have finally found refuge in Norway. ICORN (International Cities of Refuge Network), an organisation that works with threatened artists, secured me a sanctuary in Skien, renowned as the hometown of Henrik Ibsen. Here I have the title of a guest writer, but officially I am a refugee. Before this, I saw myself as a global citizen. In fact, I have never thought of myself as anything other than a human being. But after an unplanned migration, this refugee status makes me feel as if a part of my humanity has been snatched away from me.
During all the uncertainties of starting a new life in a foreign country, I kept dreaming about relaunching Shuddhashar. My first thought was to rebrand Shuddhashar’s books as e-books. However, within six months after the attack on Shuddhashar, many of its authors — some of them are my dear friends — had already given the publishing rights of their books to other publishers. Because of the exposure Shuddhashar’s books received in the aftermath of the attack, many other publishers wanted to acquire the rights to those books. A bitter realisation dawned on me. No matter the camaraderie, no author would be interested in working with me until Shuddhashar had an organisational presence. I started thinking about alternatives and searched for inspiration from the past. Finally, the idea of relaunching Shuddhashar online sprang to mind. It happened suddenly, just as when I first came up with the name ‘Shuddhashar’. That had been in October 1990, and I was riding a bike in my hometown Sylhet.”
Read the full article here.
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