Col (retd) Shawkat Ali, one of the accused in Agartala Conspiracy Case, no more
Col (retd) Shawkat Ali, former Deputy Speaker and one of the accused in the Agartala Conspiracy Case, passed away this morning. He was 83.
"Doctors declared him dead at around 9:30am at the Dhaka CMH," Udoy Shawkat Ali, grandson of Shawkat Ali, told The Daily Star.
Suffering from multiple old age-related complications including kidney and heart problems, Shawkat Ali, a veteran freedom fighter, was admitted at the Dhaka Combined Military Hospital on October 29 due to pneumonia. He was put on life support on November 5, Udoy told The Daily Star.
The body of the former Deputy Speaker was being taken to Central Shaheed Minar at 3:00pm to let people pay their final respects, according to a press release issued by the parliament secretariat.
His first namaz-e-janaza will be held at the Baitul Mukarram National Mosque after Maghrib prayers today, the release added.
His body is scheduled to be taken to his ancestral home in Naria upazila of Shariatpur district by an armed forces' helicopter at 10:00am tomorrow.
Later his body will be taken to Naria Shaheed Minar so that people from all walks of life can pay their respects, reads the release.
His second namaz-e-janaza will be held at Naria BL High School following Zohr prayers. The freedom fighter will be laid to rest after that at his village home Swadhinata Bhaban in Naria.
Condolences poured in immediately after the demise of Col (retd) Shawkat Ali.
Apart from President Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, distinguished personalities including Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury, Deputy Speaker Fazle Rabbi Miah, Opposition Leader Raushan Ershad, Deputy Opposition Leader GM Quader, different ministers and state ministers and various socio-cultural organisations expressed deep shock at his death.
In a condolence message, Law Minister Anisul Huq expressed profound shock and sorrow at the death of Col (retd) Shawkat Ali. The law minister also prayed for salvation and eternal peace of his departed soul and expressed sympathy for his bereaved family.
Shawkat Ali is survived by his wife, two sons, one daughter and a host of relatives and well-wishers to mourn his death.
He was in jail for 13 months as an accused in the Agartala Conspiracy Case. During HM Ershad's autocratic regime, he was in jail for 16 months. He was also taken to jail during the BNP-Jamaat government in 2003.
The Agartala Case, popularly called Agartala Conspiracy Case, which set a new course in the history of the country's independence struggle, was filed in early 1968 implicating Bangabandhu and 34 other Bengali civil servants and army, navy and air force officers and politicians for "hatching a plot".
The case was officially called State vs Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and others while the then Ayub Khan regime of Pakistan resolved to frame charge against 35 people with Bangabandhu being the prime accused.
The case ultimately resulted in the fall of General Ayub Khan in 1969 and subsequently led the nation towards the 1971 Liberation War.
On June 12, 2010, Shawkat Ali -- then deputy speaker of parliament -- said the background of the historic Agartala Case was "incorrectly" described in the school textbooks.
He urged the education ministry to take steps for its correction.
Shawkat was forced to retire from Pakistan Army in 1969.
He was reinstated into the army after the formation of the Bangladesh Forces in 1971 to fight the Liberation War.
The veteran freedom fighter was forced to retire the second time when he was a colonel in 1975 working as the Director of Ordnance Services following the assassination of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, since he was close to him.
Shawkat was elected MP in 1979, 1991, 1996, 2001, 2008 and 2013. During his time in office, he had served in various parliamentary committees. He was also a lawyer registered under the Supreme Court.
He was elected unanimously the deputy speaker of the ninth parliament on January 25, 2009, following a landslide Awami League victory.
He authored a number of books about the Agartala Conspiracy Case. His also wrote the book titled 'Gono Parishad Theke Nobom Jatiya Sangsad' (From Constituent Assembly to Ninth Parliament).
He was born in Shariatpur on January 27, 1937 to Munshi Mobarak and Maleka Begum.
Shawkat Ali completed his LLB from University of Dhaka in 1958 before he joined the Pakistan Army as a commissioned officer the following year.