Humayun Azad (28 April 1947 – 12 August 2004) was a Bangladeshi poet, novelist, short-story writer, critic, linguist, columnist, and professor at Dhaka University. He wrote more than 70 works. In 1986, he was given the Bangla Academy Literary Award for his work in Bengali linguistics. In 2012, the government of Bangladesh honored him with the Ekushey Padak after his death for his contributions to Bengali literature.
Early life and education
Azad was born as Humayun Kabir on April 28, 1947, in Rarhikhal village, which is now part of Sreenagar sub-district in Munshiganj district. The notable scientist Jagadish Chandra Bose was also born in the same village. Azad passed the secondary exam from Sir Jagadish Chandra Basu Institute in 1962 and the higher secondary exam from Dhaka College in 1964. He earned a BA in Bengali language and literature from the University of Dhaka in 1967 and an MA in the same subject in 1968. In 1976, he received a PhD in linguistics from the University of Edinburgh for his thesis titled "Pronominalisation in Bangla." On September 28, 1988, Azad changed his surname from Kabir to Azad through the magistrate of Narayanganj District.
Career
Azad began his career in nineteen sixty-nine by joining Chittagong College. He became a lecturer at the University of Chittagong on February eleventh, nineteen seventy, and joined Jahangirnagar University in December. He was appointed as an associate professor of Bengali at the University of Dhaka on November first, nineteen seventy-eight, and was promoted to professor in nineteen eighty-six.
Literary works
Azad's first book of poems was written between 1968 and 1972. It was published in 1973 as Alaukik Istimar (meaning "Unearthly steamer"). In the same year, he traveled to Scotland to study for a doctorate in linguistics at the University of Edinburgh. In 1979, he wrote a short story titled Onoboroto Tusharpat (meaning "Heavy snowing"). This story was inspired by his marriage to Latifa Kohinoor, a classmate from Dhaka University. The story was based on an experience he had in Britain, where he and his wife drove during heavy snowfall. Years later, he included this story in his 1996 book Jadukorer Mrityu (meaning "Death of the magician"), which collected five of his short stories.
At the end of the 1980s, Azad began writing newspaper columns about current social and political issues. His writings continued through the 1990s and were later published as books. His works from the 1990s and early 2000s helped establish him as a novelist.
In 1992, Azad published Naree (meaning "Woman"), the first comprehensive feminist book in Bengali. The book received both praise and criticism. It was seen as the first full feminist work after Bangladesh gained independence. In Naree, Azad highlighted the contributions of two Bengali reformers, Raja Rammohan Roy and Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, during British rule. He also criticized Rabindranath Tagore, a famous Bengali poet, and Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, a well-known 19th-century Bengali novelist. The book challenged traditional views about women in society, which led to negative reactions from some readers. The government of Bangladesh banned the book in 1995, but the ban was removed in 2000 after Azad won a legal case in the country's High Court.
In 1994, Azad published his first novel, Chhappanno Hajar Borgomail (meaning "Fifty-six thousand square-miles, the area of Bangladesh"). The story focused on military rule in Bangladesh during the 1980s. His second novel, Sab Kichu Bhene Pare (1995), explored relationships in Bangladeshi society and received special recognition. Ekti Khuner Svapna (meaning "Dreaming of a murder") was another novel based on unrequited love. The main character lived in Salimullah Muslim Hall, a dormitory at Dhaka University where Azad had studied. This was his final novel, published in 2004, the year he died. Other important novels include Kobi Othoba Dondito Aupurush (meaning "The poet or the condemned eunuch") and Nijer Shonge Nijer Jiboner Modhu (meaning "The honey of one's life with himself"). The first novel told the story of a fictional 20th-century Bengali poet who was castrated after a relationship with a younger woman. The second was inspired by Azad's own childhood in the countryside. Another novel, Fali Fali Kore Kata Chand (meaning "The split moon"), featured a female character named Shirin, an educated woman who had an affair, left her husband, and became anti-male.
Azad also wrote books for teenagers. One notable example is Laal Neel Deepabali, a book intended for young boys and girls. Its purpose was to teach readers about the history of Bengali literature in a short and accessible way.
Assassination attempt
On 27 February 2004, near the University of Dhaka campus during the annual Bangla Academy book fair, two attackers used machetes to strike Azad multiple times on the jaw, neck, and hands. Azad was taken to Dhaka Medical College and Hospital. At the time, Bangladesh’s Prime Minister, Khaleda Zia, ordered Azad to be moved immediately to the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) in Dhaka for better care. Later, he was sent to Bumrungrad International Hospital in Thailand, where he recovered.
Azad had been worried about his safety after parts of his novel, Pak Sar Jamin Sad Bad (translated as “Pakistan’s National Anthem; Be Blessed the Sacred Land”), were published in The Daily Ittefaq newspaper’s Eid supplement in 2003. In that book, he criticized the political ideas of Islamic extremists in Bangladesh. After the novel was published, Azad received threats from Islamist groups.
One week before Azad was attacked, Delwar Hossain Sayeedi, a member of Bangladesh’s parliament, stated in parliament that Azad’s book, Pak Sar Jamin Sad Bad, should be banned. He also suggested that Bangladesh’s blasphemy law should be applied to the book. In 2006, a leader of the fundamentalist group Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) told RAB interrogators that his group’s members carried out the attack on Azad, as well as two other murders, bomb explosions, and the 2002 cinema attacks.
Death
On August 12, 2004, Azad was found dead in his apartment in Munich, Germany. He had arrived there one week earlier to do research on the 19th-century German romantic poet Heinrich Heine. This happened several months after extremists attacked him with a machete at a book fair, which left him very seriously hurt. His family asked for an investigation, saying the extremists who tried to kill him earlier might have been involved in his death. While he was alive, Azad wanted to donate his body to a medical school after his death. However, he was buried in Rarhikhal, his village home in Bangladesh, because doctors refused to accept his body for research. This was because several days passed before his body could be sent from Germany to Bangladesh. On August 12, 2005, the first anniversary of Azad’s death was honored in Rarhikhal village.
Personal life
Azad met his future wife, Latifa Kohinoor, in 1968 while studying for his master's degree at the University of Dhaka. They married on October 12, 1975. Together, they had two daughters, Smita and Mauli, and one son, Anannya. Latifa Kohinoor passed away from cancer on September 5, 2024, in Dhaka.