A legal notice has been served to prominent theatre and film director Nasir Uddin Yousuff Bachchu and three others, demanding the return of medals, awards, manuscripts, and other personal items belonging to the late legendary playwright Selim Al Deen.
Supreme Court lawyer Shihab Uddin Khan sent the notice on behalf of Salah Uddin Shubhra, vice-president of the Selim Al Deen Centre in Feni and a nephew of the late playwright. The three other recipients are Md Kamrul Hasan, Abdus Salam and Nasrin Sultana Bilkis.
According to the notice, the four recipients allegedly retained numerous valuable items, awards, scripts, and personal belongings of Selim Al Deen after working closely with him during his lifetime. These items were meant to be preserved in the Selim Al Deen Museum in Feni to safeguard his legacy.
The notice highlights Selim Al Deen’s stature as a world-class playwright, researcher and theatre director who founded the Department of Drama and Dramatics at Jahangirnagar University. He received numerous national and international honours including the Bangla Academy Literary Award, Ekushey Padak and the Independence Award. His works and personal memorabilia, the notice claims, are part of Bangladesh’s cultural heritage under Article 23 of the Constitution.
It further alleges that despite repeated requests from the family, the four recipients did not return the items. Nasir Uddin Yousuff Bachchu, in particular, is accused of threatening the complainant, allegedly leveraging his influence during the previous government to discourage demands for the items’ return.
The legal notice gives the recipients 15 days to return all medals, manuscripts, awards, valuable belongings and personal items of Selim Al Deen. Failing to comply, it warns, will lead to legal action, including filing a writ petition before the High Court to recover the items for preservation and public display.
