Veteran politician and Bangladesh Awami League presidium member Matia Chowdhury died at a hospital in Dhaka on Wednesday. She was 82.
Matia, also the deputy leader of the 12th parliament and a former minister, died at Evercare Hospital in the capital in the afternoon, said the hospital鈥檚 general manager Arif Mahmud.
He said that the veteran politician was suffering from old age complications.
The body of Matia, who was elected lawmaker for Sherpur-2 for six terms, was kept in Evercare Hospital mortuary.
She is expected to be buried in Mirpur Martyred Intellectual Graveyard in Dhaka today after her namaz-e-janaza at Gulshan Azad Mosque after asr prayers.
Dhaka North City Corporation chief executive officer Mir Khairul Alam said that the family approached the city authorities verbally.
鈥楾he family first wanted to bury her in her husband鈥檚 grave. And then, they wanted an individual place for her burial. If so, the family will have to get permission from the chief adviser鈥檚 office,鈥� Khairul told 抖阴精品.
He said that nothing was negative so far as they had already spoken to the Local Government Division in this regard.
The Awami League and several other political parties expressed deep shock at the death of the veteran politician.
Born on June 30, 1942, in Pirojpur, to a police officer father, Mohiuddin Ahmed Chowdhury, Matia married journalist Bazlur Rahman in 1964.
Matia began student politics as a leader of the then East Pakistan Chhatra Union while studying at Eden Women鈥檚 College in Dhaka. She was the president of the students鈥� organisation for the term of 1965-1966.
In 1967, Matia joined the East Pakistan National Awami Party.
Between 1967 and 1969 time and again she was an organiser of the anti-Ayub movement and was detained in jail for about 2 years. She was released from jail during the mass uprising in 1969.
She was known as 鈥楢gnikanya鈥�, or the firebrand, for her fiery speeches when she was the president of the East Pakistan Students鈥� Union and general secretary of Dhaka University Central Students鈥� Union.
During the Liberation War in 1971, she played a role as an organiser in forming a joint guerrilla force comprising members of the National Awami Party, the Communist Party, and the Students鈥� Union.
In 1979, she left the National Awami Party and joined the Awami League. By 1986, she had become the party鈥檚 secretary for agricultural affairs and was eventually included in its policy-making council.
She was elected lawmaker for Sherpur-2 constituency in January 7 national election for the sixth term but lost her parliament membership with the fall of the Sheikh Hasina regime amid a student-mass uprising on August 5.
On its verified Facebook page, Bangladesh Awami League expressed deep shock at the death of Matia Chowdhury, who served as agriculture minister in 1996, 2009, and 2014 in the AL cabinet.
Different political parties and organizations expressed deep shock at the death of Matia.
Communist Party of Bangladesh president Mohammad Shah Alam, general secretary Ruhin Hossain Prince, Workers Party of Bangladesh acting president Mahmudul Hasan Manik and acting general secretary Nur Ahmed Bakul, Bangladesh Jasod president Sharif Nurul Ambia, general secretary Nazmul Haque Prodhan in separate condolence messages said that Matia was a true and honest politician.
They said that the death of Matia was an irreparable loss for the country.
Jatiya Party factions and the Bangladesh Mahila Parishad also expressed deep shock at the death of Matia.