Humayun Azad (Bangla: হুমায়ুন আজাদ) (Rari Khal, Bangladesh, 28 April 1947 - Munich, Germany, 11 August 2004) was a prolific Bangladeshi author and scholar. He wrote more than 70 books including 10 novels, 7 collections of poetry, 7 books of comparative literature and 2 books for children. Azad received the prestigious Bangla Academy Award (1996) and the Shishu Academy Award for his contributions in both adult and children literature. This article is about the Bengali language. ... April 28 is the 118th day of the year (119th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 247 days remaining. ... 1947 (MCMXLVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1947 calendar). ... Munich (German: München, (pronounced listen) is the capital of the German Federal State of Bavaria. ... August 11 is the 223rd day of the year (224th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... An author is the person who creates a written work, such as a book, story, article or the like. ... A scholar is either a student or someone who has achieved a mastery of some academic discipline, perhaps receiving financial support through a scholarship. ... Bangla Academy, established on 3 December 1955, is the national academy for promoting Bangla language in Bangladesh. ... Shishu Academy (Bangla: শিশু একাডেমী ) is the national academy for Children in Bangladesh. ...

Professional and literary life

Dr. Azad got his doctorate degree in linguistics in 1976 at the University of Edinburgh. He later served as a professor of Bangla at the University of Dhaka and in his early career produced pioneering works on Bangla linguistics, notably Bangla syntax. He was regarded as the most important living linguist of the one-thousand-year-old Bangla language. Later in his career, especially during General Ershad's rule, he became well-known as a liberal socio-political critic as he wrote biting commentaries against the dictatorship in local magazines. His commentaries continued throughout the 1990s and were later published as books as they grew in numbers. A freethinker and an atheist, he fearlessly and openly criticized in his works the extremism in religions, including Islam, the major religion in Bangladesh. Linguistics is the scientific study of human language, and someone who engages in this study is called a linguist. ... The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a renowned centre for teaching and research in Edinburgh, Scotland. ... This article is about the Bengali language. ... The University of Dhaka (commonly referred to as Dhaka University or just DU) (Bangla: ঢাকা বিশ্ববিদ্যালয় Đhaka Bishshobiddalôe) is the oldest university in Bangladesh. ... {{ Categories: | | ... Hossain Mohammad Ershad (born 1930) was the military dictator of Bangladesh from 1982 until 1990. ... A critic (from Greek κριτικός, kritikós - one who discerns, from Ancient Greek κριτής, krités, a judge) is a person who offers reasoned judgement or analysis, value judgement, interpretation, or observation. ... For information about the band, see Atheist (band). ... For other uses, including people named Islam, see Islam (disambiguation). ...

Dr. Azad also published the first comprehensive book in Bangla on the subject of women called Naari (Bangla for "Woman") in 1992. In this monumental tome, Azad painstakingly compiled the feminist ideas of the west that underlie the feminist contributions of the subcontinent's socio-political reformers and exposed the anti-women stance of some legendary Bengali writers including Rabindranath Tagore. The work, critical of the patriarchal and male-chauvinistic attitude of religions towards women, attracted negative reaction from conservative censors and the Bangladeshi Government banned the book in 1995. The ban was eventually lifted in 2000, following a legal battle Azad won in the High Court. Rabindranath Tagore in Kolkata, c. ... 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the year 2000. ...

Assassination attempt

On February 27, 2004, he was the victim of a vicious assassination attempt by unidentified assailants in broad daylight on the campus of the University of Dhaka. As he was returning to his Fuller Road residence from the yearly book fair held at the Bangla Academy premises, the assailants stopped him on the road and hacked at his neck and face with machetes and later used bombs to disperse the crowd who tried to rescue him. He subsequently fell into a life-threatening coma for four days, but eventually survived after receiving intensive treatment at the Combined Military Hospital in Dhaka. He then went to Singapore for further treatment of his critically damaged face. The incident created a huge backlash among the progressive liberals in the society and the public in general who were appalled at the lack of security that made this attack on one of the most renowned scholars in the country possible. The students of the university were especially agitated at this heinous crime against their beloved teacher on their very own campus and marched in protest. February 27 is the 58th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Dhaka (previously Dacca; Bangla: ঢাকা Ḍhākā), population 12,560,000[1] (2005 UN projection for statistical metropolitan area), is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh. ...

The assassination attempt took place following the publication of his novel Pak Sar Jamin Saad Baad, a story based on religious groups in Bangladesh who collaborated with the Pakistani army during the 1971 independence war. In it he tried to expose the attitudes and activities of the Islamists and the nationalists in Bangladesh. He simulated a scenario that vividly portrayed the fanatic and barbaric nature of these groups. Afterwards, Dr. Azad expressed that he had suffered severe mental trauma since the attack, but he also vowed to continue writing against the rise of Islamists in Bangladesh. Daniel Defoes Robinson Crusoe; title page of 1719 newspaper edition A novel (from French nouvelle Italian novella, new) is an extended fictional narrative in prose. ... The Bangladesh Liberation War (two other names are also used occasionally) refers to an armed conflict between West Pakistan (now Pakistan) and East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) that lasted for roughly nine months, from 26 March until 16 December 1971. ... Islamism is a political ideology derived from the conservative religious views of Muslim fundamentalism. ... Fans that are determined to be the number one fans of celebrities get the chance to meet their idols and usually hang out for a day. ...

Islamists in Bangladesh, on the other hand, condemned the assassination attempt but simultaneously claimed that the novel injured the sentiments of the majority. They demanded that the novel be banned and a blasphemy law be passed so that no such book could be published in the future, a reaction not too dissimilar to their treatment of his earlier Naari. Look up blasphemy in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Death and legacy

On August 11, 2004, Dr. Azad was found dead in his apartment in Munich, Germany, where he had moved just a week prior to conduct research on the nineteenth century German romantic poet Heinrich Heine. Azad's family in Bangladesh refused to acknowledge the German police force's primary conclusions, which indicated a natural death. Before leaving his country Dr. Azad had written a heart rendering open letter to the Prime Minister, leader of the main opposition, and his countrymen - his last literary composition which was published by Mukto mona, a Bengali freethinkers’ forum, where Dr. Azad used to be a member. August 11 is the 223rd day of the year (224th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Munich (German: München, (pronounced listen) is the capital of the German Federal State of Bavaria. ... Christian Johann Heinrich Heine (born as Harry [Hebrew: Chaim] Heine December 13, 1797 – February 17, 1856) was one of the most significant German poets. ... The word freethinker has different meanings: A freethinker is a proponent of the philosophical practice known as Freethinking, thus being a practitioner of Freethought. ...

External link

• Amnesty International's statement on the assassination attempt on Dr. Humayun Azad
• Useful website for Books regarding author Humayun Azad