Relatives, fans and admirers are deeply shocked at the death of Dr. Anisuzzaman. He is being identified in many ways: he was the guardian of Bengali literature. He was the pioneer of society and culture riddled citizens. He was the symbol of free thinking. He was the voice of conscience. He was one of the foremost personalities of the movement against fundamentalism and communalism. He has fought for secularism throughout his life.
Another analogy comes to mind about him during his eternity that he was the ‘Last Mughal’. The word is used to mean a tradition, an era, a genre, a traditional last one. He was such a person. The elite like the Mughals in personality, profession, thought, action, the kind of devotion and honest people are declining. He was the last one.
He worked in different places in Chittagong, Dhaka and abroad. He was with various organizations. He stayed with dissent. But in all cases, he has maintained a sense of grandeur, mutual dignity and good relations. As a human being, he always upheld the dignity of himself and his fellow citizens. He did not hesitate to accept the sacrifice if necessary.
Many examples can be given. One is that despite the opportunity, he did not bow down to become vice-chancellor. He has proved that even without being a vice-chancellor, everyone in the university family can be respected.
He has been involved in many organizations and committees, either willingly or in the interest of the government. But in no case did he give up his individuality and personality. Although he supported any ideology, he did not take a party position. His own neutrality, conscience and feelings were his driving force.
He is a shining exception to the ugly competition between party loyalists and loyalists in the current situation. Although the party or group came to him, he never went to anyone and gave cringe. For such a strong personality, he is respected and accepted by all, regardless of party affiliation. Professional skills, human dignity, self-respect, courtesy are some of the elements of his personality. There was never any reason to criticize him even for the enemy. Due to his sense of moderation, he has been able to lead a balanced life, which is not only rare but also rare nowadays.
Twenty years ago, one afternoon in front of Das at Dhaka University's TSC, I and Professor Dr. Jahangirnagar University Department of Archeology Mustafizur Rahman Fiju was chatting. Suddenly a reckless motorcycle was knocked down by a moving private car. The private car was also slightly damaged and stopped.
By then a commotion had gathered there. We ran and saw that Anisuzzaman Sir is getting out of his slightly damaged car. We continued to harass the reckless motorcyclists. Sir came to us and smiled and said, why are you so upset? To our surprise, he advised the biker youth to drive carefully and let him go unharmed. He left the place with some courtesy talk with us. I have never seen anyone handle an accident and some of ones’ own losses as easily as 'nothing happened'.
Large size people like Dr. Anisuzzaman are not always seen in the society. There are not many such people in number. The sad thing for us is that the right people to lead an enlightened, aesthetic, tolerant society are declining very fast. The loss incurred due to his eternal departure is irreparable. Deep respect to him.