DHAKA, Nov 26, 2024 (BSS) - Eminent academician Professor Harunur Rashid, former president and director general of the Bangla Academy, died of cancer at a private hospital in the capital today.

He was 85.

Prof Harunur Rashid, also a former faculty of English Department at Chittagong University and Jahangirnagar University, breathed his last around 2 pm today at the Ibn Sina Hospital, family sources said.

Rashid was born on 28 December 1939, to a Bengali Muslim family in Tinsukia district, Assam Province, according to Wikipedia.

He did his BA honours (1960) and MA (1961) from Dhaka University. He later went to University of Cambridge (Fitzwilliam College), UK and obtained his BA honours (1966) and MA (1970).

He was appointed Director General of Bangla Academy on February 7, 1991. During his tenure, he published the Bangla Academy English-Bengali Dictionary.
 
After a stint of four years, he went back to Jahangirnagar University. He went on voluntary retirement in 1998. He took a break from teaching and became the chief editor of Dhaka Courier, a national English-language newsweekly.
 
But his journalistic career was short-lived and he joined North South University as an adjunct professor of English. He taught there for 8 years and terminated his contract in December 2008. He then joined Darul Ihsan University as an adviser and professor of English. He taught at the International Islamic University Chittagong at its Dhaka branch until 28 February 2015.

He was elected president of the Asiatic Society of Bangladesh in 1998 for two years. In February 2007, he was made the president of Bangla Academy for two years. He was unanimously elected Chairman of Wild Team (Wild Life Trust of Bangladesh) on 5 August 2015.

A significant event in his life was his meeting a Sufi saint, Syed Rashid Ahmed Jaunpuri, the maternal grandson of Karamat Ali Jaunpuri, who preached Islam in Bengal and Assam in the 19th century.

He learned the principles of Sufism sitting at his feet and practiced the basics of Ma'refat without which, the Guru emphasized, Islam could not be seen its wholeness, beauty and excellence. Later the notes came in handy in writing about his teachings.
He wrote a total of five books on his lectures which were published during his lifetime. He was with him for 13 years until his passing away in 2001. He published his collected lectures under the title Sanglap Samagra (2003).

Nearly 12 years after his Shaykh's death he published a magnum opus Syed Rashid Ahmed Jaunpuri (RA) Smarak Grantha (2013).