 Syed was born on 3 August 1943 at Basirhat, on the Ichamati River, in 24 Paraganas, in West Bengal of undivided India.In 1946, just before the partition of British Indian, a lethal Hindu-Muslim riot took place and forced many Muslims to leave West Bengal to settle in East Bengal, now Bangladesh.A less discussed but equally fearsome riot took place in 1950 that drove the family of Syed from West Bengal and to settle in Dhaka of then East Pakistan, now Bangladesh.