Tribute: February 2005 Archives

Mohan Roy (An independent News corespondent), Kolkata, 5th February: A symposium was organized at ‘Calcutta International Book Fair’ United Bank of India Auditorium by ‘Matribhasa Suraksa Samiti, Bangabhasa Samskriti and Bamla Bachao Committee’ (‘All Bengal Save Mother Tongue Association’).

The meeting was presided over by Dr. Alok Mukherjii, a noted linguist from Bengal.

A year ago, late professor Humayun Azad, a noted linguist and leading freethinker of Dhaka University was brutally attacked on February 27, 2004 in front of Bangla Academy where he was attending the Book fair, which has become a seasonal event. In that attack, the assailants wanted to chop off Prof. Azad’s head. However, because of the presence of many book fair-goers the assailant could not do their job. In the process, though, they injured him with repeated chops in the neck and head areas resulting in his comatose condition. For a few days, his well-wishers thought he would not return from his long slumber. By surprising everyone, Prof. Azad’s senses came back and he took a slow road to rehabilitation, which required a number of plastic surgeries on his face to efface the brutal mark of the attack he received on that fateful day.