Humayun Ahmed, the popular writer and noted filmmaker, died of a cardiac arrest, and not because of infection, the writer’s second wife, Meher Afroze Shaon, said on Tuesday. “It’s true that he had an infection, but he didn’t die because of it. In the end, he succumbed to a cardiac arrest. Dr Purabi Basu had confirmed it. At this moment, I can’t tell much, but, I’ll present all documents, before the media, after getting all information from the doctor,” she told The Independent, in an interview at Nuhash Palli in Gazipur, the writer’s favourite retreat.
Earlier, a statement by Dr Zafar Iqbal, Ahmed’s second brother, had attributed his sibling’s death to infection.
During the interview outside the cottage on Thursday, people from all walks of life continued to pour in, even two days after the burial of the writer. They came with flowers to pay their tributes to their beloved writer and also offered prayers at his grave.
As the weather had improved since the heavy showers on Tuesday, the day of the burial, the number of visitors to the site of the writer’s grave had increased, said Saiful Islam, manager of the Palli. There was an unending stream of visitors, he added.
Nurul Islam, joint district judge, Dhaka, was among the mourners. “The whole of Nuhash Palli, where he has been buried, was missing the writer,” he said.
“The Palli has become an orphan,” lamented Syed Hasan Zunurain, a playwright. “Humayun kept the young generation away from drugs by putting books in their hands,” he added.
Replying to another question, Shaon said Humayun Ahmed had to borrow money from his nearest relatives and friends to bear the expenses for his treatment. He even had to sell three bighas of land from Nuhash Palli, to meet financial emergencies in 2001, she disclosed.
“But, he never thought of parting with Nuhash Palli, even for his treatment,” she added.
“Humayun declined to accept any donation from individuals or groups, who wanted to raise money in New York, to bear the expenses of his treatment. ‘If you want to provide any help, do it when I get well, by raising funds for the cancer hospital in Bangladesh,’ he said to his fans in New York,” Shaon said.
He only sought the blessings and prayers of the people, which he received in plenty, she added.
Dismissing allegations of negligence in the writer’s treatment, Shaon said, “Those who are talking about negligence never stood beside me in the hour of his need.”
Replying to another allegation that the writer had fallen from a chair, after his operation, at his New York home, she said, “He never fell from a chair, he slipped from it. I was massaging his hands when he slipped. The doctors had said that, after the operation, nothing will happen if he fell.”
Asked about the future of Nuhash Palli, Shaon said there were plans to form a trust, to run the cottage. But, this would be done after holding discussions with everyone, as the environment was still not conducive, she added.
With regard to the trust, she further stated that the initial discussions took place between Humayun and his friends and well-wishers, including Saleh Chowdhury, Alamgir Rahman, Mazharul Islam, publisher of Annyo Prakash and others, which took place two-and-a-half years before his death. The writer discussed the prospects of the expansion, protection and beautification of Nuhash Palli.
Shaon had been staying at Nuhash Palli, since Humayun’s burial, at a cottage there, with her parents, children Ninit and Nishat, and Mazharul’s wife. But, she left the Palli after offering prayers at the grave of her husband on Thursday afternoon, though she was supposed to leave on Friday.
-With The Independent input
