Delwar passes away

BNP Secretary General Khandaker Delwar Hossain died at a Singapore hospital yesterday afternoon at the age of 78.
“He died at 2:30pm Bangladesh time,” Md Kamrul, general secretary of Singapore unit BNP, told The Daily Star.
President Zillur Rahman, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Opposition Leader Khaleda Zia, Jatiya Party Chairman HM Ershad, Awami League General Secretary Syed Ashraful Islam and other political leaders expressed deep shock over the death of the veteran politician.
The ailing BNP leader was admitted to the Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore on March 4.
The body of Khandaker Delwar will be flown back to Bangladesh today, Kamrul said.
His namaz-e-janaza will be held at the south plaza of Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban at 11:00am tomorrow.
Earlier, he was admitted to the city's Modern Hospital on February 22 with old-age problems.
Delwar was later transferred to the Square Hospital on March 3 when his condition worsened due to breathing complications. He was given life support at the Intensive Care Unit of the hospital.
Delwar left behind his wife, four sons and two daughters.
BNP's Senior Joint Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir will now act as the secretary general of the party.
Born in Manikganj in 1933, Delwar obtained his law degree from Dhaka University in 1955.
He started his political career through the Language Movement of 1952 and also contested the 1954 elections from the Jukta Front.
Delwar started active politics at the national level in 1957 by joining National Awami Party (NAP). He played an important role in the mass uprising in 1969 and also contested the 1970 election with the ticket of NAP.
Delwar joined General Zia's political platform in 1978 from NAP and became a member of the national standing committee of BNP in 1985.
A man of illustrious political career, he was returned five times as member of parliament from Manikganj's Ghior-Doulatpur constituency.
Controversy, however, trailed him for his reported abuse of office for personal financial benefits after his party came to power in 2001.
The Anti Corruption Commission had filed six separate cases against him on charges of unauthorised use of government vehicles and misappropriation of public funds and property during the BNP-led four-party alliance rule.