Hasan Azizul Huq yesterday become the second respected former university professor to get death threats in less than a week.
A celebrated fiction-writer, former professor of philosophy at Rajshahi University and a secular figure, Prof Hasan received the threat over phone around 4:30pm yesterday, said his daughter-in-law Sultana Razia.
On November 10, Dhaka University Professor Emeritus Dr Anisuzzaman, widely known for his secular writing, received a text message on his mobile phone that threatened to kill him.
Both Prof Hasan and Prof Anissuzaman were among the 38 individuals who issued a statement, also on November 10, condemning and demanding exemplary punishment for those who attacked and killed bloggers and publishers recently.
Yesterday, the unknown caller asked Prof Hasan whether he would continue being and doing what he has been or would be change himself.
In reply, the writer said neither was it possible for him to change at this age, nor did he want to. Then the caller told him to be prepared for “any consequences.”
Razia also said that the caller’s number was not displayed on her father-in-law’s phone and so they suspect that the call might have come from abroad.
This is not the first time that the winner of Ekushe Padak, one of the most prestigious literary awards in Bangladesh, has got a death threat.
In 2006, Jamaat-e-Islami’s student front Islami Chhatra Shibir threatened to kill him. That sparked serious condemnation and a huge protest by his peers, fans and followers.
With yesterday’s threat, Prof Hasan and Prof Anisuzzaman join 12 other university teachers who had received different kinds of threats this year.