Syed Badrul Ahsan went to St Francis Grammar School in Quetta, Pakistan, before doing his Intermediate at Notre Dame College, Dhaka, Bangladesh. He graduated in English literature from Dhaka University.
He has taught at various schools in Dhaka, apart from serving as a lecturer in English at Notre Dame College. In addition, he has taught as adjunct faculty at some of the reputed private universities (University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (ULAB), Independent University Bangladesh (IUB) in Bangladesh. He has served as Minister Press at the Bangladesh High Commission in London.
Ahsan has been in journalism for close to four decades, having worked for a number of leading English language newspapers and periodicals — The New Nation, The Bangladesh Observer, The Daily Star, New Age, The Independent, Daily Observer — in the country. Currently he contributes columns to newspapers and journals in Bangladesh, India and Britain, among which are Dhaka Tribune, The Business Standard, The Financial Express and Daily Sun and Open-the-Magazine (India), NorthEast News (India) and Asian Affairs (London).
He has written for Observer Research Foundation (ORF), Delhi, and was also associated with India Narrative in addition to writing for bdnews24.com and weekly Dhaka Courier. He was a research fellow at JNIAS, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi, in 2012-2013.
Ahsan’s writings have covered politics in South Asia as well as the West, particularly American presidential history. He has written extensively on Pakistan as also on political developments and upheavals in Bangladesh. His book reviews have been published in Dhaka newspapers. Additionally, he has reviewed books for Asian Affairs, the quarterly journal of the Royal Society for Asian Affairs (RSAA) in London.
He is a member of the Commonwealth Journalists Association (CJA). As a member of the South Asian Free Media Association (SAFMA), he has taken part in media conferences in Delhi, Kathmandu, Lahore, Karachi and Colombo. He has also attended a conference at IDSA, Delhi.
Ahsan has authored several books, among which are From Rebel to Founding Father: Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (Niyogi Books, Delhi); Bangladesh: Political Odyssey of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (Pathak Shamabesh, Dhaka); Glory and Despair: The Politics of Tajuddin Ahmad (Shrabon Prakashani, Dhaka); History Makers In Our Times (Shrabon Prakashani, Dhaka); Bangladesh 1975 and Other Writings (Wessex Press, London), and Reflections on Books (Panjeree Publications, Dhaka).
He is currently at work on a comparative study of the politics of three Bengali politicians — Chittaranjan Das, Subhas Chandra Bose, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman — and their impact on Bengali society before as well as after the partition of India in 1947.
