Humayun Ahmed draws flak from literati

Reazul Bashar and Mustak Ahmed

bdnews24.com Correspondents

Dhaka, July 20 (bdnews24.com) – Writers, litterateurs and teachers have criticised popular writer Humayun Ahmed for his comments on freedom of writers, attacks on linguist Humayun Azad and a sedition case against Jahanara Imam.

In an interview with Bangla-language newspaper Samokal, Ahmed had said during his stay in Sweden that the writers in Bangladesh enjoyed freedom, a comment dismissed by many.

"I don't know why Humayun said all this," novelist Hasan Azizul Haq told bdnews24.com:

Asked by Samokal why Humayun Azad, his onetime friend and colleague, had to die, Ahmed had said in an obvious reference to

Pak Sar Jamin Sad Bad

(The Sacred Blessed Land): "The book he wrote was so vulgar that anybody would be hurt after reading it."

"He doesn't have to be a fundamentalist."

The comment was too hard for Azizul Haq to believe. "It is like shooting arrows at 15 crore people."

Prof Serajul Islam Chowdhury dismissed Ahmed's remarks as trivial and ridiculous and said he was not worth commenting on.

Humayun Azad's widow Latifa Kohinoor claimed that most readers of her husband do not share Ahmed's views.

"What Humayun Ahmed said was his own."

Dhaka University teacher Arefin Siddique said Humayun Azad depicted the vulgar acts of war criminals. "It's sad that somebody is trying to justify his death this way."

Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee acting president Shahriar Kabir told bdnews24.com, "To say there was no sedition case against Jahanara Imam is Humayun Ahmed's ignorance."

"To say the matter of Jahanara Imam is a stage-managed game is very objectionable."

Asked whether writers are free, Kabir said, "Maybe Humayun Ahmed is free because he always speaks for the establishment."

Azfar Hossain, a writer and critic, said: "I am not surprised he talks like a pro-establishment writer. I find him ignorant."

Part of the newspaper interview focused on soaring food prices and the politics in Bangladesh. Ahmed claimed that people were doing fine despite the price hike.

In the interview, Ahmed spoke high of the current army-backed caretaker government and supported keeping former prime ministers Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina away from politics.

Awami League organising secretary Saber Hossain Chowdhury said: "I don't agree with his comments. People are not benefiting from emergency rule."

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