The hit list is getting shorter: Humayun Azad

Living with different brands of local ‘godfather’s, i.e., ‘bangla bhai’ and continuous bomb blasting in innocent mass gathering may lead people to deny the possibility of murder of Humayun Azad because that could add to already existing severe helplessness we are having in the country. It is more frightening to accept the possibility that those people planned the killing in Germany after failing to kill him in February in Dhaka. However, death of Humayun Azad in Munich satisfied the desire of the killers and for them the Bangla proverb becomes true, “the snake is dead but the beating stick is completely intact”.

When official sources of German and Bangladeshi embassies are emphasizing that Azad had severe cardiologic problem and had a heart attack, a natural (?) cause of death, one cannot overlook the fact of his living with the life-threatening situation. A constant stress could take him to a serious condition. On July 24th last, some people tried to kidnap his only son. His family had been receiving threats of bombing, killing, kidnapping even after the deadly attack in February. On 28th July Azad wrote an open letter to the Prime Minister and the opposition leader in national dailies. That spoke his deep agitated mind and insecurity.

Attempts to murder of writers in Bangladesh could be seen as surprising when most of the people are illiterate and most of the educated middle class people don’t take the reading as a popular habit. Still life threats to writers have been increasing. We have seen Taslima Nasrin to leave the country after receiving several threats to her life. We have seen life threat to Ahmad Sharif and many others. After the February attack on Humayun Azad we have also come to know about a hit list where writers are on the top. We have corrupt people in power to make money, to get partnership in business of multinational agencies for oil and gas or, contracts of importing foreign goods, to grab people’s property, to give protection to other criminals. Attacks on writers go with these crime, corruption and rise of religious fascists. That says intolerance to other’s opinion, blocking freedom of speech and expression. Fear of losing space for creative people is increasing through the mainstrea m rightist political exercises.

Though many critics say that Humayun Azad’s writings sometime served the offenders psyche he was one of the most popular writers in the country. Azad’s approach was individualistic in his writings and these are not necessarily owned by Awami League, the main ‘opposition’ party, or major left parties.

Nasrin Siraj Annie,
Independent Anthropologist and Media worker,
Sub-editor: www.meghbarta.org
August 17, 2004