News Desk : dhakamirror.com
Shah Moazzem Hossain, a veteran politician and deputy leader of the BNP, died on Friday at the age of 83.
He died at 9:30 p.m. at his home in Gulshan, said Sayrul Kabir Khan, a member of the BNP media cell, who also noted that he had long-standing age-related health problems.
Shah Moazzem left behind a daughter, a son, and a large number of family members and well-wishers to grieve his passing. Saleha Hossain, his wife, passed away in 2009.
Details of his namaz-e-janaza or burial have yet to be determined.
Both the acting chairman of the BNP Tarique Rahman and the party’s secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir expressed shock at the death.
Moazzem was one of the organizers of the Liberation War and participated actively in both the Six-Point Movement of 1966 and the Eleven-Point Movement of 1969.
His political journey began in his student life. He was arrested and imprisoned during the Language Movement in 1952 when he was just a ninth grader. Between 1952 and 1970 he spent almost 18 years in prison.
Shah Moazzem was an elected General Secretary of the Dhaka College Students’ Union. He later became Secretary General of the East Pakistan Chhatra League. He also served three terms as President.
He played an active role in the 1966 Six Point Movement and the 1969 Eleven Point Movement and was also one of the organizers of the Liberation War.
The veteran politician was elected Member of Parliament in the 1970 and 1973 elections. After independence he was the first person to be elected chief whip in Parliament by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. After the 1973 election he was elected Chief Whip for a second time.
In the 1980s, Shah Moazzem became Secretary General of the Jatiya Party, Minister in Ershad’s government, Deputy Speaker of Parliament and Deputy Prime Minister. He was later removed from the party in 1992.
In 2006 he joined the BNP.
