Father Richard J. Novak, C.S.C: A U.S. Missionary Killed In A Hindu-Muslim Riot In East Pakistan in 1964

A book on the life of U.S. Holy Cross missionary
Father Richard J. Novak, C.S.C. (1935-1964),
a professor at Notre Dame College, Dhaka 

Image courtesy: amazon.com/

Father Richard J. Novak, C.S.C. (1935-1964) was an American Congregation of Holy Cross missionary priest to the then East Pakistan (called Bangladesh after the independence from Pakistan in mid-December of 1971). On completion of his priestly studies in Le Mans, France, Dhaka's then-Archbishop Lawrence Leo Graner, C.S.C. ordained him there on June 29, 1961. 

In 1963, he went to East Pakistan as a missionary. After studying Bengali for a short time in Barisal, he began to teach Logic at Notre Dame College in Dhaka. From the beginning, he was deeply interested in the local people and their language and culture. 

"He was very friendly and likable and showed his unmistakable interest in people...He got around to more places than most of our men who have been there for many years. People everywhere still remember him. I used to worry about him, though, because it seemed to me that his liberal spirit was liable to get him into trouble sooner or later," wrote Father Richard Timm, C.S.C., a fellow missionary, and professor at Notre Dame College, on Feb. 6, 1966. 

 In early 1964, there was a Hindu-Muslim riot in India and Pakistan. In East Pakistan, the riot was severe in Hindu-populated Narayanganj and Khulna. Some Hindu riot victims were being treated at Holy Family Hospital in Dhaka. On January 15, Father Novak went to the hospital and wanted to extend his assistance. When a Hindu nurse-trainee at the hospital asked an American nun if there was anyone to help locate her father in Narayanganj where he worked at the Dhakeswari Cotton Mills, Father Novak was told of the request. Next day, on January 16, Father Novak, risking his life, bicycled 10 miles distance to Narayanganj and tried to cross the river on a ferry to reach the mills. On the boat, some Muslim youths attacked him and, on reaching the other side, killed him with lethal stabs and threw his corpse to the river. 

From that day news on his whereabouts was unknown in Dhaka for eight days. Then, some local Muslims from Narayanganj came to Dhaka and gave the Notre Dame College priests the terrible news. 

On the occasion of the remembrance of Father Novak in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, USA, on January 27, 1964, Father Arnold A. Fell, C.S.C., wrote: "There is a sort of perfect unity in Father Richard's life in that, as far as we know, he also met death, like Christ, in the midst of the people he had come to help and succor. And from what we know he also met death on an errand of mercy, trying to help those who were threatened by the communal Hindu-Moslem riots that were raging in and around Dhaka...in the fuller, deeper sense of the word, 'a martyr is one who dies giving witness to Christ.' In this full, deep sense Fathe Richard Novak died a martyr." 

For more on Father Richard J. Novak, please read the following:

• The Day My Brother Was Murdered (by Michael Novak) (Dec. 24, 2008)
• Revisiting the Life and Death of Father Richard J. Novak, C.S.C. [1935-1964] (by Mary Ann Novak, June 2008)
• Murder, 50 Years After (by Michael Novak) (Dec. 8, 2013)
• Father Richard Novak Library Opened by His Brother Michael Novak [at Notre Dame College, Dhaka, Bangladesh, on Sept. 1, 1995]