‘He had so much more to offer’

The death of Prof Dr Enamul Haque, prominent archaeologist and former director general of Bangladesh National Museum, is an irreplaceable loss to the nation; he had so much more to offer, said eminent citizens yesterday.

They said this at a programme organised at the museum premises to pay last respects.

"Dr Enamul Haque gets all the credit for bringing the national museum to today's modern model and making it familiar to the public. He is a legendary archaeologist," said Education Minister Dipu Moni.

"He contributed to almost every sector of our culture... His age was not a bar [in working for art and culture] because of the huge amount of enthusiasm he had for Bengali art and culture," she said.

Speaking at the programme, Information Minister Hasan Mahmud said Enamul has not only contributed to the country, but also brightened the country's image in the international arena.

"If we could have such a good man for a few more days, he could have contributed much more to the nation," he said.

While commemorating, AAMS Arefin Siddiqui, president of the museum board and former vice chancellor of Dhaka University, said Enamul and the museum are so intertwined that they are like two sides of the same coin.

Dr Zafrullah Chowdhury, Gonoshasthaya Kendra's founder and trustee, said one must know and love the country if they want to be patriotic. Enamul had a significant contribution in inculcating patriotism in the country's people.

Enamul's daughter Trina Haque said deep patriotism and consciousness were the sources of all of his works.

Prof Niranjan Adhikary of DU's Sanskrit department, painter Shambhu Acharya, additional secretary to the cultural affairs ministry Monirul Islam, director general of Department of Archaeology Shri Ratan Chandra Pandit also paid their last respects at the programme.

Enamul was also given guard of honour in the presence of Dhaka Deputy Commissioner Md Shahidul Islam at the beginning of the programme.

A namaz-e-janaza will be held at Bogura's Enamul Haque Art and Cultural Academy at 9:30am today, followed by another programme of paying respects by locals at Bogura Shaheed Minar.

Later, his body will be taken to his ancestral home in Bhelurpara and will be buried at the family graveyard after Juma prayers.

The art expert joined Dhaka Museum (later Bangladesh National Museum) in 1962. He became the principal of the institution in 1965, director in 1969 and served as its director general from 1983 to 1991.

In recognition of his contributions, he was awarded Ekushey Padak in 2014, Swadhinata Padak in 2017 and Padma Shri award of India in 2020.