Tributes pour in for Hindi ‘scholar’ Ilyas

Tributes poured in for acclaimed Hindi critic Ilyas Hussain who died in his hometown in Katihar in Bihar days ago.

Sharing the information about his death on his timeline, Abdul Mannan wrote four days ago: “Bhai Ilyas Hussain … is no more in this world. He breathed his last in a Katihar hospital around 7:30 pm. He was in severe pain for some days. His kidneys had stopped working. A few days ago he had a minor heart attack.”

Ilays was a known figure in circle of people attached to Hindi in Jamia Nagar before he shifted to his hometown permanently two years ago.

He worked continuously for 28 years at Madhur Sandesh Sangam in Okhla and returned to his native land from Delhi two years ago when the institution closed down, wrote Mannan.

He was a great scholar of Hindi literature and for the last five years, millions of people were benefiting from his Facebook blog in the name of Hindi literature, he wrote.

Hindi journalist Sami Ahmad said it was only a few days ago when he spoke with him and it was sad to know that he passed away. For many people who knew him he was an unsung hero. After returning to Bihar he got teaching job in Hindi as a Professor, according to Ahmad.

“We used to call him Ilyas bhai, a saint because he did not complain much to the world. He didn’t expect much from the world. The world did not do justice to him. But his smile and giggle did not diminish. He was a man of pure Hindi. I had met him in Delhi about 25 years ago. He used to edit Hindi books there. As the job did not suit him, he returned back to Katihar,” he wrote.

He has left behind a wife and three sons and three daughters.  One son and two daughters are married.