Language Movement hero Mahbub no more
Mahbub ul Alam Chowdhury, who wrote the celebrated poem on Amar Ekushey 'Kadte ashini, fashir dabi niye eshechhi,' has passed away at the age of 82.
The language movement veteran was admitted to the United Hospital in the capital on Friday as he slipped into a coma. The attending doctors pronounced him clinically dead at around 1:30pm yesterday.
He will be laid to rest at Banani graveyard today.
Prior to this, Mahbub ul Alam's body will be kept at the Central Shaheed Minar from 11:00am to 12:30pm, where people from all walks of life will pay their tribute to the poet. Later, his body will be taken to Bangla Academy premises.
His namaj-e-janaza will be held at Dhaka University Ja'ame mosque after the Johr prayers.
Sammilita Sangskritik Jote, Workers' Party of Bangladesh (WPB), Bangladesh Chhatra Moitri and other organisations condoled the death of the great soul.
In a statement, WPB President Rashed Khan Menon and General Secretary Bimol Biswas said that Mahbub ul Alam was not only a language movement veteran or litterateur, he was also a freedom fighter and one of the front leaders in the movement for trying the war criminals.
Bangladesh has lost a great patriot due to his death, they said expressing sympathies for the bereaved family.
He was one of the pioneers of non-communal and democratic culture in the country.
Apart from the well-known Ekushey poem, Mahbub ul Alam also penned many poems, stories, dramas and essays.
He was the editor of the prestigious monthly literature magazine "Shimanto" from 1947 to 1952.
Mahbub ul Alam also took part in the 'Quit India' movement as an activist of student congress in 1942.
One of the leading figures in the language movement, he was the convenor of Sarbadolio Rastrobhasha Sangram Parishad in Chittagong in 1952.
He was awarded Bangla Academy Fellowship in 1986. Chittagong City Corporation (CCC) honoured him with Ekushey Padak and a reception in 2001.
Mahbub ul Alam also received 3rd Swadhinata Boi Mela award in 2004, Chittagong Press Club honorary award in 2000, Chittagong Samity honorary award in 2003, Muktijuddho Jatiya Purashkar in 2005 and Language Movement National Award in 2006.
In 2006, his birth anniversary was celebrated nationally. He was born in November 7, 1927 at Gohira village of Raozan in Chittagong.
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