Abdur Razzak, MP, one of the leading organisers of the 1971 Liberation War, died at London hospital at 9:50pm Bangladesh Standard time (BdST) on Friday, an embassy official said.
Rashed Chowdhury, the press minister of the Bangladesh High Commission, told of his death.
The 69-year-old was on life support for hours, London correspondent said, contrary to the media reports that he had passed away.
Several news media announced around 6.30pm that the senior leader had died and also cited condolence messages from the president, prime minister and the opposition leader.
However, when contacted, the prime minister's office, Awami League office and opposition leader's office had no reactions.
His long-time political colleague Tofail Ahmed told at 7pm he had contacted London around 6pm and the life support had not been taken off.
Razzak has long been suffering from liver diseases. Doctors at King's College Hospital were planning to transplant his liver on Dec 11 but later said his kidney needed to be transplanted, too. They had been planning to do both surgeries at a time.
A member of the ruling Awami League advisory council, Razzaq was minister for water resources during the 1996-2001 Hasina government, but failed to secure a Cabinet seat when the party returned to power in 2009.
Instead, he was made the chairman of the parliamentary committee on water resources ministry. He led a 10-strong parliamentary fact-finding mission on Tipaimukh dam project to India in late 2009 and in his report to parliament he said that the Indian government had assured the team that they would not implement any project that would harm Bangladesh.
He became general secretary of the Awami League in the post-1975 difficult days, but later broke away to resurrect BKSAL in the early 1980s when Sheikh Hasina had returned home to take over the reins of the troubled party.
The BKSAL, which he virtually led, merged with the mainstream Awami League in the late 1980s, but Razzaq never got back the coveted position of the general secretary. He was made a member of the policymaking presidium, became a minister when Awami League ended its 21-year wait for state power in 1996.
He was widely believed to be instrumental in making the Indo-Bangla 30-year water sharing treaty happen in 1996.
Razzak was arrested and imprisoned many times by the Ayub Khan government in 1964-65, then from 1967 to 1969 for participating in the Six-Point Movement. After the assassination of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1975, Razzaq was yet again arrested. His last imprisonment came in 1987 during H M Ershad's autocratic regime.
Rashed Chowdhury, the press minister of the Bangladesh High Commission, told of his death.
The 69-year-old was on life support for hours, London correspondent said, contrary to the media reports that he had passed away.
Several news media announced around 6.30pm that the senior leader had died and also cited condolence messages from the president, prime minister and the opposition leader.
However, when contacted, the prime minister's office, Awami League office and opposition leader's office had no reactions.
His long-time political colleague Tofail Ahmed told at 7pm he had contacted London around 6pm and the life support had not been taken off.
Razzak has long been suffering from liver diseases. Doctors at King's College Hospital were planning to transplant his liver on Dec 11 but later said his kidney needed to be transplanted, too. They had been planning to do both surgeries at a time.
A member of the ruling Awami League advisory council, Razzaq was minister for water resources during the 1996-2001 Hasina government, but failed to secure a Cabinet seat when the party returned to power in 2009.
Instead, he was made the chairman of the parliamentary committee on water resources ministry. He led a 10-strong parliamentary fact-finding mission on Tipaimukh dam project to India in late 2009 and in his report to parliament he said that the Indian government had assured the team that they would not implement any project that would harm Bangladesh.
He became general secretary of the Awami League in the post-1975 difficult days, but later broke away to resurrect BKSAL in the early 1980s when Sheikh Hasina had returned home to take over the reins of the troubled party.
The BKSAL, which he virtually led, merged with the mainstream Awami League in the late 1980s, but Razzaq never got back the coveted position of the general secretary. He was made a member of the policymaking presidium, became a minister when Awami League ended its 21-year wait for state power in 1996.
He was widely believed to be instrumental in making the Indo-Bangla 30-year water sharing treaty happen in 1996.
Razzak was arrested and imprisoned many times by the Ayub Khan government in 1964-65, then from 1967 to 1969 for participating in the Six-Point Movement. After the assassination of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1975, Razzaq was yet again arrested. His last imprisonment came in 1987 during H M Ershad's autocratic regime.
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