Zahir Raihan

জহির রায়হান (Known as "Zahir Raihan")

Pioneering Film Director, Novelist, Author of 'Stop Genocide', 1971 Liberation War Martyr

Born 1935-08-19

Majupur, Feni, Bangladesh

Passed Away 1972-01-30 Mirpur, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Lifespan 36 years old

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Notice / Correction

"Cinema must not be an escape into fantasy; it must be a weapon that shocks the world awake to human atrocities."

Archival Overview

Visionary filmmaker and novelist whose legendary documentary 'Stop Genocide' alerted the world to the 1971 Bangladesh Genocide, martyred on January 30, 1972, while searching for his abducted brother.

Biographical Record

Zahir Raihan was born on August 19, 1935, in Feni. A prominent activist in the 1952 Bengali Language Movement, Raihan published acclaimed modernist novels including Hajar Bachhor Dhore (Through Thousand Years) and Another Polash.

In cinema, Raihan directed Jibon Theke Neya (1970), a brilliant political satire using Tagore's Amar Sonar Bangla to allegorize resistance against the Pakistani military dictatorship. During the 1971 Liberation War, Raihan created the harrowing documentary Stop Genocide, filming refugee camps and massacres. On January 30, 1972, shortly after national liberation, he was lured into Mirpur to rescue his brother, writer Shahidullah Kaiser, and was murdered by armed Bihari-collaborator militias.

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Final Resting Place

Perpetual Memorial

Mirpur Martyrs' Memorial / Unrecovered remains
Dhaka, Bangladesh

                         GPS: 23.8050, 90.3550                    

View on Memory Atlas

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