National Professor Anisuzzaman passes away

National Professor Dr Anisuzzaman passed away at the Combined Military Hospital in Dhaka on Thursday afternoon. He was 83. President M Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina expressed profound shock at his death.
Professor Anisuzzaman breathed his last at the hospital around 4:55 pm, his son told DailyBangladesh. On May 9, Professor Anisuzzaman was taken to the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) from Universal Cardiac Hospital in the capital as his condition did not improve.

Earlier, he was admitted to Universal Cardiac Hospital in the capital on April 27 as he had been suffering from kidney and lung complications, and respiratory problems. The Indian government had awarded him Padma Bhusan in 2014, the country’s third-highest civilian honour, for his distinguished service in fields of Bangla literature and education. Dr Anisuzzaman is an eminent educator, writer and Emeritus Professor of Bangla language and literature department at Dhaka University.

Dr Anisuzzaman participated in the Language Movement, the 1969 Mass Upsurge and the Liberation War. After the independence, he became a member of the National Education Commission with Kudrat-E-Khuda as its chief. He had conducted outstanding research on the history of Bengali literature and received the Bangla Academy Literary Award, the Independence Award and the Ekushey Padak. He also won many international awards for his contributions to literature.

The books such as ‘Muslim Manash O Bangla Sahitya’, ‘Swaruper Sandhane’, ‘Purono Bangla Gadya’, ‘Bangali Nari: Sahitye O Samaje’, ‘Kal Nirabadhi’, and ‘Ihajagatikata O Anyanya’ by Prof Dr Anuisuzzman are considered seminal works by academics working on Bangla literature and language. Born in Kolkata in 1937, Prof Anisuzzaman and his family shifted to Bangladesh soon after the partition in 1947.