Awake in memory of others
Today, May 14, is the sixth death anniversary of Anisuzzaman (February 18, 1937—May 14, 2020).
My married life with Anisuzzaman was about 59 years. We first met him a couple of years ago, in 1959, when he was already a teacher in the Bengali Department of Dhaka University. Seven years before I met him, in 1952, I was amazed to hear his story of joining the language movement at the age of 15.
The first glimpse of his cultural and political awareness came after the introduction, when in 1961 the government of Pakistan disrupted the Rabindra-birth centenary celebrations. Although a young teacher, he protested with the senior teachers.
After marriage I saw his language and culture movement as well as political awareness. Like any Bengali in the 1960s, he was involved in our freedom and independence movement in various ways, sometimes directly, sometimes indirectly.
At the time of independence, Anisuzzaman worked closely with the government in exile, especially with the then Prime Minister Tajuddin Ahmed. After independence, he joined the work of drafting the constitution.
Thus, he tried to play a role in almost all the political movements and democratic transition of the country.
Anisuzzaman also earned a reputation as a teacher and researcher. In 1962, at the age of 25, he received his Ph.D. After his death, I came to know that this is the feat of attaining PhD degree at the youngest age under Dhaka University.
But what I liked the most in personal life was his immense love for people. With whomever he mingled, he became close to him. He was proverbial to the students. We saw the final reflection of this when we decided to move from Chittagong University to Dhaka University in the 1980s. Students and even teachers and staff came and staged a sit-in strike in front of our house. A student even threatened to commit suicide if the decision is not withdrawn. What can be a greater honor for a teacher!
I have no complaints against him as a wife. In fact, both of us had so little demand that there was not much defilement in family life. We lived a contented family life in peace with what life gave us—though not so richly.
Another special aspect of Anisuzzaman's character was that he thought very little about himself or his family. It was also instructed that we should not take any initiative on behalf of the family to preserve our memory after death.
It fills our hearts to see others doing that work for us with such care.
