Journalist Shaheen Reza Nur no more
Shaheen Reza Nur, former executive editor of the daily Ittefaq and son of Shaheed journalist Serajuddin Hossain, has died of cancer.
He was 66.
The prominent war crimes trail campaigner breathed his last in Canada's Vancouver General Hospital at 10:40am (Bangladesh time) yesterday, his brother Tawheed Reza Noor told The Daily Star.
Shaheen's health started to deteriorate 10 days ago. He was admitted to the hospital four days ago, Tawheed said.
"Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina phoned our family to express condolences. She reminisced on Shaheen bhai. She was informed about his last wish. She listened to our expectations. We hope Shaheen bhai's body will be brought back to Bangladesh under state arrangement," he said.
Shaheen left behind his wife, two sons and a host of relatives and well-wishers to mourn his death.
Born in Magura's Shalikha upazila in 1954, the journalist had been living in Canada for several years.
He was vocal about the trial of war criminals of the Liberation War in 1971. His father Serajuddin Hossain, also an eminent journalist, was one of the intellectuals killed by Al-Badr, an auxiliary force of Pakistani army, at the fag end of the nine-month-long war.
Shaheen was involved in the activities of Ekattorer Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee since its inception in 1992 under the leadership of Shaheed Janani Jahanara Imam, seeking trial of war criminals.
He was the former president of Projonmo Ekattor, a platform of the children of Liberation War martyrs.
In 2012, the journalist gave testimony in the International Crimes Tribunal-2 in a war crimes case filed against executed war criminal and Jamaat-e-Islami leader Ali Ahsan Muhammad Mojaheed.
With directives from their commander Mojaheed, and the plan prepared by the Pakistan army, Al-Badr men launched their mission to annihilate intellectuals just before Victory Day in 1971, Shaheen had told the tribunal as a prosecution witness.
CONDOLENCES
President Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday expressed profound shock and sorrow at the death of Shaheen, reports BSS.
In his condolence message, the president also prayed for eternal peace of his departed soul and conveyed deep sympathy to the bereaved family.
The premier in her message said, "His contributions to implement the spirit of the Liberation War and to the mass movement demanding trial of war criminals will be remembered with due honour."
Ekattorer Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee and Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader also expressed shock at the death of the journalist.