Linguist Mahbubul Haque dies at 76

Mahbubul Haque, a linguist and former Chittagong University professor, has died in hospital care in Dhaka at the age of 76.

The Ekushey Padak-winning freedom fighter breathed his last while undergoing treatment at the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) in Dhaka around 1:45am on Thursday, reports bdnews24.com. 

Mahbubul’s younger sibling captain (retd) Md Ashraful Islam told bdnews24.com that the former professor of Chittagong University’s Department of Bangla, who had been suffering from kidney ailment for a long time, returned to the country from the United States in June.

“A few days later, he suffered a heart attack at his Dhaka residence. He underwent a bypass surgery at the start of this month. But he fell sick again two days after the operation. He was hospitalised for almost 40 days.”

Ashraful said the first funeral prayer service for Mahbubul was held in the Bashundhara Residential Area early on Thursday. His mortal remains will be taken to the Zila Shilpokola Academy premises in Chattogram so people from all walks of life can pay their respects.

The linguist will be given a guard of honour followed by a second funeral prayer service after the Jummah prayer at the port city’s Jamiatul Falah National Mosque.

After Asr on Friday, Haque will be buried on the Chittagong University campus followed by a third funeral prayer service.

Born in 1948 in Faridpur, Mahbubul spent his childhood in Chattogram city’s Bagh Hona area adjacent to Lalkhan Bazar. He became a member of the Bangladesh Chhatra Union or Students' Union in the sixties and took part in the Liberation War in 1971.

Mahbubul started to teach at Chittagong University’s Department of Bangla in 1996. The professor retired from the department in 2013.

He received the Bangla Academy award in 2018 and the Ekushey Padak in 2019.