Physicist Prof Ajoy Roy, father of slain writer-blogger Avijit, is on life support

Pre-eminent physicist Professor Ajoy Roy is being treated in a Dhaka hospital in “critical condition”.

The 85-year-old retired Dhaka University teacher has been on life support at BIRDEM hospital’s intensive care unit for around a week.

“The doctors see no chance of improvement,” his daughter-in-law Keya Barman told bdnews24.com on Tuesday night.

Prof Ajoy appeared in a court on Oct 28 to testify in a case over the murder of his secular writer-blogger son Avijit Roy.

He was admitted to the hospital on Nov 25 with fever and breathing problems, his family and doctors said.

The doctors started giving Prof Ajoy artificial ventilation support two days later as his breathing problems deteriorated.

Founder of Shikkkha Andolan Mancha, Prof Ajoy is also one of the founders of Ekattorer Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee. He is serving as an adviser to the committee now.

Two research works of the Ekushey Padak-winning physicist have been reviewed by the Nobel Committee for Physics.

After retiring from Dhaka University’s physics department, he worked as the University Grants Commission Professor there.

The freedom fighter of 1971 Liberation War actively took part in the 1952 Language Movement and the 1969 Mass Uprising as well.

His elder son Avijit, a science writer who lived in the US, was hacked to death by Islamist militants at Shahbagh just after leaving the Amar Ekushey Book Fair on Feb 26, 2015, with his wife Rafida Ahmed Bonya, who was also injured in the assault.

“Keya and I were talking yesterday about how complete and a meaningful life Baba (Prof Ajoy) has. But the next moment it occurred to me the unbearable pains he has suffered over the past five years,” Bonya recently wrote in a Facebook post, sharing the news of Prof Ajoy’s ailment.

“He began to break in 2015 and things did not get better. The loss of Avi’s mother in the beginning of this year only accelerated his breakdown,” she added.