Intellectual Social Responsibilities (ISR) is a way of fulfilling the intellectual and social responsibility of an individual. The proponent of this idea is the filmmaker and cultural personality of Bangladesh, the architect Enamul Karim Nirjhar. The main point of this concept is – the individual will selflessly contribute to social-cultural development with his thoughts, intelligence and talent from his position. One of the means of this practice can be intellectual and creative investment. This intellectual investment must be done in such a way that it is used for the good of the people.
In the present era, most established business organizations are participating in various developmental activities of society as part of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and allocating some of their profits to this sector. The funds allocated to these institutions are generally used for environmental, philanthropic, educational and research purposes. The practice of CSR is minimized in the social-cultural field, although its importance is undeniable.
WHY IS ISR NECESSARY?
In today’s context, the need for ISR is immense. Social responsibility is not only limited to the organization. Promoting intellectual creative activities and free-thinking practices is the responsibility of an individual to society. But because of its structure, the capacity of an organization is greater than the capacity of an individual. In this case, what is the way to fulfil the responsibility that an individual has towards society? This thought is the origin of the idea of Intellectual Social Responsibility (ISR). A person can fulfil his social-cultural responsibility towards society with his talent. The practice of ISR can be in various fields such as education, research, culture etc. In those cases, ISR and CSR can be complementary to each other. When a successful pairing of CSR and ISR takes place and creative intellectual work is initiated, a skilled team is needed to implement it efficiently. In this way, a large number of people’s employment opportunities can be created. In addition, the result of intellectual and creative investment is the result of artistic work that plays a role in the psychological improvement of society and people.
THE PRACTICAL APPLICATION OF ISR
ISR’s main motto – is to contribute selflessly to social-cultural development from a person’s position with his/ her thinking, intelligence and talent – its successful example is the well-planned design of Amar Ekushe Book Fair 2019, 2020 and 2021, which Enamul Karim Nirjhar as an architect having a long experience of architectural practice and Through the intelligent application of talent, he took the place of creative social responsibility. Because of this design of the Amr Ekushe book fair, it has been convenient for the general audience, buyers-sellers, publishers and all concerned to stay at the book fair, the management has been easier, and above all the beauty of the fair has increased. He also designed various social institutions for development, including schools and hospitals, as part of his ISR practice. He is currently working on building a hospital called “Amader Haspatal” as part of his ISR practice.
To establish the concept of ISR, Enamul Karim Nirjhor has started the work of the “Noy Bochorer Boro (I am 9 plus)” process from the organization “EK Nirjhor Collaborations (EKNC)” developed by his intellectual creativity. This project-process includes a work plan on social-cultural development issues. Under the joint effort of CSR and ISR, 63 original Bangla songs will be released in 9 albums under the “Noy Bochorer Boro (I am 9 plus)” process. If this process continues, on the one hand, a field of livelihood for artists will be established, and on the other hand, the storehouse of Bengali original songs will be enriched. And the combination of these two will introduce a healthy trend in the practice of Bengali music. Under the same process, invigorated by the spirit of independence, the production of 9 independent films is underway. If this coupling of CSR-ISR continues, it will be a revolutionary step.
