Waheedul Haq's death is premature also because the causes he fought still remain to be won. Of the various causes he espoused, nothing as more prominent than secular humanism. He was deeply committed to the Bangalee identity that transcends the religious divide. He wanted that secular Banglalee identity to take hold, flourish, and spread its influence to other spheres of life, including politics. That is why Waheedul Haq was so hurt by the regress that Bangladesh witnessed with regard to secularism over the last decades, by the lost promise of the 1971 victory, by the revival and semi-dominance of communal politics.

To most Waheedul Haq is known as a columnist and organiser of Chayanat and Rabindra-shangeet related activities. Few however know that he was once the district organiser of the left leaning National Awami Party, got elected as a Basic Democracy member (during Ayub regime), and contested for the parliament on NAP ticket. Similarly, few know that he also was the music director (jointly with Ustad Bahadur Khan) of Rrittik Ghatak's famous movie, 'Titas Ekti Nodir Nam.' He was a part time teacher at Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology. He was even a good football player. Waheedul Haq was therefore a journalist, politician, singer, writer, cultural organiser, social activist, sportsman, etc. all in one, and excelling in many. He was a multi-dimensional personality.

Waheedul Haq was therefore a Renaissance man, whose knowledge, expertise, and interests extended over a wide range, including art, languages, literature, mythology, history, anthropology, ethnology, sculpture, architecture, music, and more. Knowledge for him was a passion and a way to enlightenment, rather than a means to make the buck.

Waheedul Haq was also a Renaissance man, because he saw the main vocation of his life in responding to the greater calls of the society, in public service. He did not allow personal and family concerns to derail him from his pursuit of the greater causes he espoused. He did not compromise with undemocratic Pakistani rulers. He did not comprise with undemocratic Bangladeshi rulers. None of them could buy him off with material gains or position. None of them could cow him down for doing things that the rulers did not approve or were not quite happy about.

Nor did he do it for name or fame. He did not run after recognition. A self-effacing worker, he did it, because he thought it was his duty. Himself a good singer, Waheedul Haq was reluctant to produce any album containing his own rendition of songs. He wanted to serve the society even in his death, asking to donate his body for medical research. True to his self-effacing nature, he did not want even a grave for himself!

Waheedul Haq, together with a few like-minded colleagues, founded Chayanat in 1961 (alongside organising the centennial of Rabindranath's birth), at the height of Ayub's power, when the regime was making conscious efforts at cleansing the then East Pakistan's culture from Rabindranath's influence. It was a courageous step. Since then Chayanat has been able to impart the love of music, and of Rabindra shangeet in particular, to thousands of young of this country. To this day, Chayanat remains the beacon of secular humanism, the standard bearer of Bangalee culture that refuses to be contaminated by communalism. No wonder Chayanat musical rally celebrating the secular event of Pohela Baishak became one of the targets of recent fundamentalist attack.

In 1980, to rivive interest in Rabindra shangeet and to spread its practice to all corners of the country, Waheedul Haq launched the National Rabindra Sangeet Conference, which now has about fifty branches across the country. He founded "Konthoshilon," an organisation to promote recitation; "Anondodhani," an organisation for teaching music; and "Shishu-Tirtha," a children's organisation for recitation. He was pained by the loss of national identity in post-independent Bangladesh, as manifested by the bifurcation of the education system into "Madrassahs" on the one hand, and English medium schools, on the other. He wanted to raise the flag representing the Bangalee identity, and established Nalanda, an innovative school for children. He was the Vice-President of the organization, "Brotochari." He also founded "Chalachitra Sanshad," an organization devoted to promotion of quality and art films.

Even any one of the above could be a lifetime's achievement for many. But, for Waheedul Haq, all came very naturally, all resulting from his fundamental desire to be useful to the society, to promote the secular Bangalee identity, to uphold humanism.

Though known more for his cultural activism, professionally Waheedul Haq was associated mainly with journalism. During his journalism career lasting more than fifty years, Waheedul Haq worked for various newspapers, including The Bangladesh Observer, The Morning News, The People, The New Nation. He served as joint editor of The Daily Star. However, he wrote substantive essays too, and some of these are collected in several books that he published, including "Ganer Vitor Diye Esho" and "Shangskriti Jagoroner Prothom Surja." In recent years, Waheedul Haq was more known for his columns in Janakantha and Vorer Kagoj. His Janakantha column, "Avoy Baje Hridoy Mazhe" was a treat to read every Tuesday, even if one did not agree with all the viewpoints that he expressed in it. In his columns, Waheedul Haq displayed exemplary erudition, a remarkable ease at bringing in necessary information and arguments from all different subjects and disciplines.

A second quality of his writing was the disarming directness, which was so enjoyable. He wrote with no qualifications, no subterfuge, no hedging, just plain directness, often times aggressive. How could he be so direct, writing not from abroad, but being in the country and very much within the reach of authorities? He could do so, because he was honest and not beholden to any vested interests. He did not make compromises, and so he did not have bones to hide in his closet. It is this honesty that gave him the courage to be so direct.

Waheedul Haq also developed a unique writing style, a style that had a certain Joycean quality to it. The language would freely follow his stream of thoughts; sentences would remain half-sentences, or they would run on and on, as necessary to conform and put down those thoughts into writing. Words would also fall in as necessary, be they taken directly from Sangskrit or straight from contemporary American lexicon, and of course from Bangla in between. Allusions would reach as easily extend to Mahabharat as to Magna Carta. There would be no artificiality, no contrived choice regarding word or sentence construction. Yet there would be depth, there would be breadth, and there would be, what we call in Bangla, "rosho-uttirnota."

Only a few months ago, the nation lost poet Shamsur Rahman, another great icon of secular Bangalee identity and humanism. Now we have lost Waheedul Haq. Yet the causes they stood for remain very much in jeopardy. During the communal riots of 1950, Waheedul Haq rushed to Savar with his friends to stand by the Hindu families under attack. He participated actively in the Liberation War, helping in the organisation of the Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendro. He thought that with the independence of Bangladesh, the specter of communalism will be finally buried, and a healthy Bangalee identity based on humanism will flourish. Yet, after half a century since 1950 communal riots, Waheedul Haq had to rush again in 2001 to Shirajganj to save Purnima and bring her back with him to provide refuge. The country still faces the danger of religious fundamentalism trying to take over. The struggle remains, yet the titans are passing away one by one. Who will be replacing them?

S Nazrul Islam is Professor of Economics, and Coordinator of Bangladesh Environment Network (BEN) (s_n_islam@yahoo.com)