Prof Ajoy Roy, a retired Dhaka University (DU) teacher and the father of slain blogger-writer Avijit Roy, has passed away at the age of 85.
Prof Ajoy was admitted to Birdem Hospital in the city with fever and breathing problem on November 25, and breathed his last at the Intensive Care Unit at 12:35pm on Monday, said ICU duty officer Dr Ariful Haque, reports UNB.
The hospital’s Director Brig Gen (retd) Shahidul Hoque Mallik also told reporters that Ajoy had been on life support for around a week, following his admission last month due to old age complications.
Born in Dinajpur on March 1, 1935, Prof Ajoy received his bachelor's degree and master's degree from DU, and took his Doctor of Philosophy degree in physical chemistry from Leeds University of England.
A freedom fighter, Ajoy also participated in the Language Movement of 1952, the mass uprising of 1969, and the non cooperation movement of 1970.
In 2012, he was awarded the Ekushey Padak, the highest civilian award of Bangladesh.
Both President Md Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Monday mourned the death of the eminent academician.
In a condolence message, the president said Prof Ajoy worked for upholding the Liberation War’s spirit till his death and he was an iconic teacher.
Hamid and Hasina both prayed for eternal peace for his departed soul and conveyed deep sympathy to his bereaved family.
Prof Ajoy was the founder and president of the Shishka Andolan Mancha, a platform for education movement, and chairman of Shamriti Mancha, a platform promoting peace-harmony-tranquility.
His son, Avijit Roy, was hacked to death by Islamist extremists near DU’s TSC intersection on February 26, 2015.
Avijit and his wife Rafida Ahmed Bonya were attacked that evening when they were leaving the Amar Ekushey Book Fair. Bonya survived with sharp weapon injuries.
Avijit was a secular writer and blogger who lived in the US. The trial in his murder case is ongoing at a Dhaka court, where Prof Ajoy had testified in October.
Prof Ajoy was also the editor-in-chief of Muktanwesa magazine, a Bengali publication for promoting freethinking and secular humanism, and a member of the advisory board of the Mukto-Mona, an internet forum of freethinkers.
