From Sea to Script – Mariners Who Became Writers: Mubashir Ahmed Khan (2E)

There are very few writers among Pakistani and Bangladeshi mariners. Mariners have visited many countries and observed different cultures of the world. So, they do have many interesting stories to tell regarding seafaring but most of them don’t write about their experiences at sea. Our friend Rashid Kazmi (2-E) has expressed this phenomenon in a nice way. A seafarer would deliver an interesting speech about his sea experience in a gathering. However, if he is asked to put in writing what he has just said, he cannot do so.

A prominent Pakistani mariner writer is Mr. Altaf Shaikh (2-E). He indeed is a dedicated writer. Even during his apprenticeship at Karachi Shipyard (1965—1968), I observed him working on a book. He has written more than two dozen books. Initially, he wrote in his mother tongue Sindhi. His writings inspired many Sindhi youth to join merchant navy. Lately, he has written a few books in Urdu also. Mr. Altaf Shaikh presently lives in Karachi and writes regularly columns for newspapers. He comes from a town Hala of Sindh Province. He graduated from Cadet College Petaro before joining Marine Academy, Juldia Chittagong. His late father was a landlord and bureaucrat.

An established BD mariner writer is no other than Ghulam Suhrawardy. The photocopy of his book, “BANGLADESH MARITIME HISTORY” is in front of me. This book was published in 2015. During last Ramadhan, Mr. Suhrawardy was in London. We four mariners had Iftar and dinner in an Arab Restaurant. The other two mariners were Zillur Rahman Bhuiyan and A B M Shameem. Mr. Suhrawardy told me in this meeting that he was too busy to revise this book though he had a lot of more useful information to add. On this occasion, he gave me his book, “Sailing the Storm: Piracy in the High Seas”. This 118-page book contains a lot of information about piracy at sea and is worth reading. Mr. Suhrawardy’s third book is titled, “Bangladesh on a New Journey: Moving beyond the Regional Identity” published by Bloomsbury Publishing India Pvt. Ltd. Last but not the least, Mr. Suhrawardy also gave me copy of his magazine “SOUTH ASIA JOURNAL Winter 2024: Issue 41”. It is a quarterly magazine containing articles by more than a dozen intellectual writers. This magazine is available online (info@southasiajournal.net).

Doctor Sajid Hussain Sahib (ex-Commandant, Bangladesh Marine Academy, Chittagong) has written twenty-six books. Three books are in English and the rest in Bangla. He is presently working on his 27th book. No doubt, it is a great achievement acknowledged and appreciated by all BD mariners worldwide.
On my bookshelf, in the photocopy of book, “Ship Stability, Part-1. It is written by BD mariner Captain Salah Uddin Mahmood.

Innumerable articles by late F R Chowdhury have been published on BD mariner’s website with useful information on maritime affairs of Bangladesh and other countries. I have with me more than sixty pages of his articles. It will be a commendable task if all his writings are combined, printed in book form and made available to all BD mariners.

Pakistani mariner Captain Kazim Abbas of Karachi has written a book in Urdu titled, “Somalia Ka Qaidi, 136 Days in Captivity of Sea Pirates”. For more details, please see my writing, “MY TEN DAYS MEMORABLE VISIT TO UNITED ARAB EMIRATES” in the book,” MY BANGLADESH”.

I believe that a good number of books (in English and Bangla) have been written by BD mariners, but I don’t have the data. There are some technical books also. I shall be grateful if some BD mariners could kindly give me more information about publications of BD mariners.

Mubashir Ahmed; London 26.05.2025
Email. mubashira2050@gmail.com