Abdus Shakur passes away

Eminent litterateur and musicologist Abdus Shakur breathed his last at his Dhanmondi residence in the capital yesterday. He was 72.
He died around 4:45pm due to old age complications, said Ishtiaq Ahmed, elder son of the litterateur.
Shakur will be laid to rest at Mirpur Martyred Intellectuals' Graveyard after his daughter's return from Canada on January 17, said Ishtiaq.
Born in Noakhali on February 25, 1941, Shakur is the author of five novels, several storybooks and essay books. He also edited books on different subjects.
Golap Sangraha, a collection of essays by Abdus Shakur, had won the "Prothom Alo Best Book of the Year" award among the books published in Bangla Year 1410.
Abdus Shakur also won Bangla Academy Award in 1979 and Amiobhushon Award from West Bengal in 2003, Alokto Sahitya Puroshkar in 2008 for his contribution to Bangla literature.
He had done his honours from Dhaka University in English literature in 1963 and master's in the next year. Later in 1980 he obtained another master's in development economics from the Netherlands.
He started his career at Dhaka University as a lecturer in the English department and later joined the then Pakistan Civil Service. He retired in 2000 as a secretary of the Bangladesh government.