Farewell to a people's mayor

There is no doubt that ABM Mohiuddin Chowdhury, who passed away on December 15, before anything else, was always a champion of the downtrodden. True, he was an Awami League stalwart who had been in active politics since his university days. But his priority, his love and passion had always been for his city, Chittagong, in particular for the ordinary Chittagonians who fondly referred to him as Chattal Bir—a hero of Chittagong. The sea of thousands of people at his funeral is testament to his popularity as a mayor of this city.

A freedom fighter, Mohiuddin Chowdhury was elected three times to the mayor's office, serving the Chittagong City Corporation for 16 years. All throughout he has unstintingly stood up for his fellow Chittagonians, even if it meant being at odds with the political party he belonged to for most of his life. His love for his city was so great that he even refused a ministerial position when offered, because he did not want to be separated from his people.

And there are many examples of his genuine empathy for the distressed and the downtrodden. During the devastating 1991 cyclone, Chowdhury showed his humanitarian side by arranging a field hospital for those wounded and sick as a result of the disaster. Under him the Chittagong City Corporation established maternity clinics, nine post-secondary colleges, computer training centres, a midwife training centre, a healthcare technology training centre as well as centres to promote adult literacy.

Leaving aside all controversies, there is no doubt that Chowdhury was a mayor who won the hearts of many ordinary Chittagonians by listening to them and genuinely trying to address their problems as best as he could. We hope his successor will emulate that side of him.