Dhaka, Mar 17 – BNP standing committee member Moudud Ahmed passed away at Singapore’s Mount Elizabeth Hospital on Tuesday. He was 81. Moudud breathed his last around 6:30 pm (BST) at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the hospital, BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said.
“It’s very shocking news that Moudud Ahmed is no more. His demise is an irreparable loss to the entire nation,” he said.
As a seasoned parliamentarian, lawyer, freedom fighter and one of the organisers of the Liberation War, Fakhrul said Moudud was a guardian of the nation. “The people of the country have lost a genuine politician at his death.”
Moudud’s personal assistant Mominur Rahman Sujon said the BNP leader had serious kidney complications and was struggling to get oxygen due to lung congestion.
He was shifted to the ICU of Mount Elizabeth Hospital on March 9 following a deterioration in his physical condition.
Moudud is survived by his wife Hasna Moudud and one daughter. His two sons died earlier.
The veteran politician was admitted to Mount Elizabeth Hospital for advanced treatment on February 1. His wife Hasna Moudud, daughter of famous poet Jasimuddin, was beside him.
Earlier, he was hospitalised in Dhaka on Dec 30 last year after he had fallen ill due to a low level of haemoglobin. He also suffered a mild stroke while undergoing treatment at the hospital.
On January 7, a permanent pacemaker was implanted in his heart.
BNP Chairperson’s media wing member Sayrul Kanir Kham said the family of the deceased is trying to bring his body back to the country as soon as possible, but there is no available flight to Bangladesh from Singapore on Wednesday.
He said the BNP leader’s body may arrive in Bangladesh on Thursday.
Moudud Ahmed is one of the founding members of BNP. He joined Jatiya Party in 1985 and served as prime minister and vice president in the government of military ruler HM Ershad.
After the fall of Ershad, Moudud returned to BNP in 1996 and was made law minister in Khaleda Zia’s government in 2001.
Moudud served as the first postmaster general of Bangladesh after independence.
He was elected MP several times from the Noakhali-5 seat and once from the Bogura-6 constituency.
BNP acting chairman Tarique Rahman and secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, standing committee members Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, Barrister Jamir Uddin Sircar, Mirza Abbas, Gayeshwar Chandra Roy, Dr Abdul Moyeen Khan, Nazrul Islam Khan and Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury, expressed deep shock at his death.
Jatiya Party Chairman and deputy opposition leader in parliament GM Quader, Krishak Sramik Janata League president Abdul Kader Siddique and Gonoshasthaya Kendra founder and Trustee Dr Zafrullah Chowdhury also condoled his death. – UNB
