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Published : 05 Jul 2026, 05:07 PM
Eminent scholar Prof Abul Quasem Fazlul Huq, the president of Bangla Academy and a leading essayist, literary critic and social thinker, has died at the age of 86.
Bangla Academy Director General Mohammad Azam said Huq had been attending a family gathering on Sunday when he suddenly became unwell and was pronounced dead after being taken to hospital.
His son-in-law Anwarul Hasan confirmed the matter.
"While eating, some food got stuck in his throat. There was a medical facility above the restaurant. He was taken there, but the doctor told us he was no longer with us," Anwarul said, adding that the incident occurred around 3:15pm.
Born in Kishoreganj’s Pakundia on Sept 30, 1940, Huq completed his secondary education at Mymensingh Zilla School and higher secondary studies at Ananda Mohan College before enrolling at Dhaka University.
After earning his Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Bangla, he joined the university's Department of Bangla as a lecturer, where he spent four decades teaching and later served as department chairman.
Beyond academia, Huq remained one of the country's most influential public intellectuals.
He convened the Rashtro Bhasha Bangla Rokkha Committee, or Committee to Preserve Bangla as a State Language, which campaigns to ensure the use of Bangla at every level of public life, and from the 1980s edited the intellectual journal Lokayata.
He also chaired the Swadesh Chinta Sangha, founded by renowned scholar Ahmed Sharif, and wrote regular newspaper columns on literature, politics, culture and society.
A prolific writer, Huq authored more than 20 books covering Bangladesh's Liberation War, politics, philosophy, ethics, literature and cultural thought.
His notable works include “Muktisangram”, “Kaler Jatrar Dhwani”, “Ekushey February Andolon”, “Naitikata: Shreyoniti O Durniti”, “Jugasankranti O Nitijiggasa”, “Mao Setunger Gyanatattwa”, “Rajniti O Darshan”, “Asha-Akankshar Samarthane”, “Bangladesher Rajnitite Buddhijibider Bhumika”, “Abakkhoy O Uttaran”, “Rajniti O Sanskriti: Sambhabanar Nabadiganta”, “Rashtrachintay Bangladesh”, “Unish Shataker Madhyabitta O Bangla Sahitya”, “Bangladesher Prabandha Sahitya”, “Sahityachinta”, “Sahitya O Sanskriti Prasange”, “Sanskritir Sahaj Katha”, and “Adhunikatabad O Jibananander Jibonoutkantha”.
He also translated two works by British philosopher Bertrand Russell and edited several books.
His contributions to Bangla literature earned him the Bangla Academy Literary Award in 1981.
In October 2024, during the tenure of Bangladesh's interim government, Huq was appointed president of Bangla Academy.
Responding to his appointment, he told bdnews24.com that the academy was the country's foremost national institution for intellectual pursuits but had gradually become partisan because of narrow political interests.
He said collective efforts were needed to preserve its national character and enable it to fulfil its founding mission.
A year earlier, speaking at a discussion marking his birthday, Huq reflected on Bangladesh's political future, saying younger generations were seeking new leadership.
He argued that both Bangladesh and the wider world needed fresh political ideas and leadership, warning that democracy had increasingly been reduced to little more than an electoral process.
Huq is survived by two children, including Dhaka University academic Shuchita Sharmin.
His son, publisher Faisal Arefin Dipon, owner of Jagriti Prokashony, was hacked to death by Islamist militants on Oct 31, 2015.
His killing became one of the most high-profile attacks in a wave of militant violence targeting secular writers, publishers and intellectuals in Bangladesh.
