Ananda Zaman, son of Prof Dr Anisuzzaman, told UNB that his father was infected with coronavirus.

“Physicians at the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) tested samples of my father and confirmed on Thursday night that he was infected with coronavirus,” he added.

He said the plan to take his father’s body to Bangla Academy premises on Friday and other places have been cancelled. “The body will be handed over to us on Friday morning. He’ll be buried at Azimpur Graveyard beside my grandfather’s grave according to government’s burial rules,” he added.

National Professor Dr Anisuzzaman, 83, breathed his last around 4:55pm at the Combined Military Hospital (CMH), Dhaka.

Also read: National Professor Dr Anisuzzaman passes away

Earlier, on May 10, Prof Dr Anisuzzana was shifted to the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) from Universal Cardiac Hospital after his health condition deteriorated.

He was admitted to the Universal Cardiac Hospital on April 29 with various health complications. As his condition worsened, he was taken to the Intensive Care Unit of the hospital on May 2.

Dr Anisuzzaman was an eminent educationist, writer and Emeritus Professor of Bangla Language and Literature department at the University of Dhaka.

Meanwhile, President Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina expressed their profound shock at his death.

In a condolence message, President Abdul Hamid said Dr Anisuzzaman was a bright star of Bangla literature and culture and he had played an excellent role in improving the quality of education in Bangladesh.

The President prayed for the eternal peace of the departed soul and conveyed deep sympathy to his bereaved family members.

In a condolence message, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina recalled with deep respect the outstanding contributions of Prof Anisuzzaman in the field of education. 

“I was a student of Sir’s tutorial group,” said Sheikh Hasina adding that the death of this wise person is an irreparable loss to the country.

Information Minister and Awami League Joint General Secretary Dr Hasan Mahmud, Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal, Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Md Shahabuddin, Deputy Leader of Parliament Syeda Sajeda Chowdhury, among others, expressed shock at his death.

Born in 1937 in Kolkata, Prof Anisuzzaman was a Post-doctoral Fellow at the University of Chicago (1964-65), a Commonwealth Academic Staff Fellow at the University of London (1974-75), and was associated with research projects of the United Nations University (1978-83).

A Professor Emeritus at the Dhaka University, Dr Anisuzzaman taught Bangla literature both at the Dhaka University (1959-69 and 1985-2003) and Chittagong University (1969-85).

He was a Visiting Fellow at the University of Paris (1994) and the North Carolina State University (1995) and a Visiting Professor at the Viswa Bharati (2008-09).

Dr Anisuzzaman participated in the Language Movement, the 1969 Mass Upsurge and the Liberation War. After the country’s independence, he became a member of the National Education Commission with Kudrat-E-Khuda as its chief.

He authored many books in Bangla and English, including Muslim Manas O Bangla Sahitya (Dhaka 1964), Swaruper Sandhane (Dhaka 1975), Purono Bangla Gadya (Dhaka 1984), Factory Correspondence and other Bangla documents in the India Office Library and Records (London 1981), Creativity, Reality and Identity (Dhaka 1993), Cultural Pluralism (Calcutta 1993) and Identity, Religion and Recent History (Calcutta 1995).

Dr Anisuzzaman had conducted outstanding research on the history of Bangla literature and won many international awards in recognition of his contributions to literature.

He was a recipient of the Bangla Academy award for research (1970) and the Ekushe Padak, an award given by the State, for his contribution to education (1983). The Rabindra Bharati conferred upon him an honorary D. Litt (2005) and the University of Calcutta the Sarojini Basu Medal (2008).

He was a member of the Planning Commission to the government of Bangladesh during the Liberation War and the President of the Bangla Academy afterwards. He was elected a Fellow of the Asiatic Society of Bangladesh.