Syed Manzoorul Islam, a distinguished educationist and emeritus professor in the English department of Dhaka University (DU), died today at the age of 74 while receiving treatment at a city hospital.
“Islam, also fiction writer and essayist, breathed his last around 5:00pm while undergoing treatment at LabAid Hospital in Dhaka,” DU English Department Chairman Professor Dr. Tazin Aziz Chaudhury told BSS.
He is survived by his wife, a son, students and a host of well wishers and admirers.
On October 3, Prof. Islam was hospitalized to Labaid Hospital following a heart attack. Following a battery of medical examinations, two stents were implanted in his heart.
On Sunday night, his condition deteriorated to the point where he was placed on life support.
To give people a chance to see him and honor the seasoned professor and novelist, his body will be taken to the Central Shaheed Minar tomorrow at approximately 11 a.m. and left there until 1 p.m.
Following Zuhr prayers, his first Namaz-e-Janaza will take place at the Central Mosque of Dhaka University. After his second Namaj-e-Janaza, his body would thereafter be transported to the Mirpur Martyred Intellectuals’ Graveyard, where he will be buried forever.
Islam was born on Jan 18, 1951, in Sylhet to Syed Amirul Islam and Rabeya Khatun. He completed his secondary education at Sylhet Government Pilot High School in 1966 and later studied at MC College in Sylhet.
He did his BA and MA in English at the University of Dhaka before completing his PhD at Queen’s University in Canada in 1981. He retired as a professor from the English department and was appointed a professor emeritus in 2023.
Islam was honoured with numerous accolades, including the Ekushey Padak in 2018 and the Bangla Academy Literary Award in 1996, in recognition of his contribution to literature.
