Farewell, Qazida

In contrast to his extroverted, charismatic literary creation "Masud Rana", Qazi Anwar Husain was a man of solitude. Yesterday, his farewell towards the eternity happened similarly -- in a quiet and unpretentious manner.

In the afternoon, Anwar, who breathed his last on Wednesday, was laid to eternal rest at Banani graveyard in the capital.

As per his wish, he was buried at the very grave where his mother Sazeda Khatun was buried.

Earlier, his namaz-e-janaza was held at the Segunbagicha Jame Mosque after Zuhr prayers.

With his departure, a glorious chapter of the country's thriller literature comes to an end.

Anwar played a unique role in "creating readers" in the country, said Niaz Morshed, whose book was published by Anwar's publishing house Seba Prakashani, after paying homage to the author-publisher at Segunbagicha.

Niaz said while Humayun Ahmed gets special mention whenever the topic of creating readers comes up, but Anwar successfully played the same role before Humayun, albeit much more silently and without acknowledgment.

On Wednesday, Anwar died at the capital's Birdem General Hospital after suffering a stroke and a heart attack simultaneously while on life support. He was 86.

His body was then kept in a freezer van of Quantum Foundation in Kakrail.

From there, the body was taken to his Segunbagicha residence around 10:00am yesterday. His famed Seba Prakashani is also located at the residence.

The publishing house started its journey in Bangladesh from the 1960s.

Almost symbolically, the final episode of his journey also started from there yesterday.

After his body was taken to Seba Prakashani premises, family members, relatives, well-wishers, locals and readers gathered to pay their homage to the writer one last time.

Prominent singer Sabina Yasmin, also Anwar's sister-in-law, paid homage to the author and spent some time with the bereaved family members.

"My father was a warrior," said Anwar's son Qazi Shahnoor Husain. Shahnoor said his father was courageous but liked to live a quiet life, surrounded by his family.

Anwar's daughter-in-law Masuma Maymur said books of his most popular series "Masud Rana" and "Kuasha" were been published for 43 years.

In recent years, Anwar drew flak after Bangladesh Copyright Office granted the copyrights for many "Masud Rana" and "Kuasha" books to their ghost writer Sheikh Abdul Hakim in June 2020.

However, Maymur said Sheikh Abdul Hakim claimed himself to be the author of the books, adding that the issue was unresolved.

Anwar's cousin Quazi Rownaq Hossain said the state has not given Anwar his due recognition.

He inspired the country's youths to read books, which helped them stay away from trouble, he said.