National Professor Kabir Chowdhury has been buried at Mirpur Martyred Intellectuals' Graveyard.
An academic and patriot to the core, the man who recently led the formulation of a new education policy for the government, never put down his pen, which was his ultimate weapon in the battle for reason and humanity.
Speaking to in one of his last long interviews, he spoke of the necessity to uphold human values.
"I wish I had more time to write. I wish the days were a bit longer than 24 hours," said Kabir Chowdhury, whose essays and speeches have inspired activists throughout generations.
His burial took place at 6pm on Tuesday.
Chowdhury, a heart patient, died in his sleep around 6am when his pacemaker apparently failed, daughter Shaheen Kabir, a retired professor of Jahangirnagar University, told .
Sheikh Hasina, the prime minister, rushed to his Naya Paltan residence to consol the family members. President Zillur Rahman sent flowers and said the loss to the nation was irreparable.
As the news of his death spread, academics, political leaders and cultural personalities gathered at his home to pay their last respects.
"One of the nation's greatest sons, this lifelong teacher has made unrivalled contributions to our education," the president said in a message.
"He was the guide for our education policy. His gifts to Bangla literature are extraordinary as well," he said.
"He has enriched the nation with his numerous works, and guided us towards humanity and justice.
"The nation will never forget his contribution. He will live in our hearts forever," educationist Zillur Rahman Siddiqui said.
Chowdhury's janaza was held at the Dhaka University central mosque, after which he was given a guard of honour. Flowers were laid on his body by nation's leaders as well as people from all walks of life.
LIFE
Chowdhury taught English literature at Dhaka University after a career in the government education service and emerged as a leading figure in the fight against communalism and religious fanaticism in the last decades.
The son of a government official, Chowdhury was born on Feb 9, 1923 at Brahmanbaria of the then Tipperah district of united Bengal. His family hails from Noahkhali's Chatkhile area.
With a master's in English literature – graduating in 1944 from the Dhaka University – Kabir Chowdhury was appointed education secretary in 1972 immediately after the Liberation War when his celebrated younger brother Munier Chowdhury was killed by the local collaborators of the Pakistani army.
He was member-secretary of the first National Education Commission under Kudrat-e-Khuda and later became the education, sports and cultural affairs secretary.
Chowdhury also played a major role as the director of Bangla Academy from early 1969 to mid-1972 in propagating secular values during the mass movements in the period. He was made a national professor in 1998.
He headed several organisations that worked for secular democracy, such as the "Committee for Resisting the Killers and Collaborators of 1971", better known as "Ekattorer Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee", "Citizens Social Rights Movement", and "Citizens United Front".
He worked closely with the late Jahanara Imam in trying to bring to book the killers of 1971 as war criminals. He helped set up a People's Court that found leaders of Jamaat-e-Islami and BNP guilty of war crimes and urged the government to try them in a properly constituted tribunal.
But, the then government, instead of doing that, charged Kabir Chowdhury and 23 other of his colleagues with sedition and instituted a formal case against them. The case was withdrawn later during the caretaker regime headed by retired chief justice Mohammad Habibur Rahman.
Kabir Chowdhury acted as chairman of the Bangladesh Afro-Asian Writers Union for many years. He was also a member of the presidium of the Bangladesh World Peace Council and the Bangladesh Afro-Asian Peoples Solidarity Organisation.
He headed the Bangladesh-Soviet Friendship Society for over a decade. He was the president of the Bangladesh Vidyasagar Society and chairman of the Advisory Council of Ekattorer Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee.
An academic and patriot to the core, the man who recently led the formulation of a new education policy for the government, never put down his pen, which was his ultimate weapon in the battle for reason and humanity.
Speaking to in one of his last long interviews, he spoke of the necessity to uphold human values.
"I wish I had more time to write. I wish the days were a bit longer than 24 hours," said Kabir Chowdhury, whose essays and speeches have inspired activists throughout generations.
His burial took place at 6pm on Tuesday.
Chowdhury, a heart patient, died in his sleep around 6am when his pacemaker apparently failed, daughter Shaheen Kabir, a retired professor of Jahangirnagar University, told .
Sheikh Hasina, the prime minister, rushed to his Naya Paltan residence to consol the family members. President Zillur Rahman sent flowers and said the loss to the nation was irreparable.
As the news of his death spread, academics, political leaders and cultural personalities gathered at his home to pay their last respects.
"One of the nation's greatest sons, this lifelong teacher has made unrivalled contributions to our education," the president said in a message.
"He was the guide for our education policy. His gifts to Bangla literature are extraordinary as well," he said.
"He has enriched the nation with his numerous works, and guided us towards humanity and justice.
"The nation will never forget his contribution. He will live in our hearts forever," educationist Zillur Rahman Siddiqui said.
Chowdhury's janaza was held at the Dhaka University central mosque, after which he was given a guard of honour. Flowers were laid on his body by nation's leaders as well as people from all walks of life.
LIFE
Chowdhury taught English literature at Dhaka University after a career in the government education service and emerged as a leading figure in the fight against communalism and religious fanaticism in the last decades.
The son of a government official, Chowdhury was born on Feb 9, 1923 at Brahmanbaria of the then Tipperah district of united Bengal. His family hails from Noahkhali's Chatkhile area.
With a master's in English literature – graduating in 1944 from the Dhaka University – Kabir Chowdhury was appointed education secretary in 1972 immediately after the Liberation War when his celebrated younger brother Munier Chowdhury was killed by the local collaborators of the Pakistani army.
He was member-secretary of the first National Education Commission under Kudrat-e-Khuda and later became the education, sports and cultural affairs secretary.
Chowdhury also played a major role as the director of Bangla Academy from early 1969 to mid-1972 in propagating secular values during the mass movements in the period. He was made a national professor in 1998.
He headed several organisations that worked for secular democracy, such as the "Committee for Resisting the Killers and Collaborators of 1971", better known as "Ekattorer Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee", "Citizens Social Rights Movement", and "Citizens United Front".
He worked closely with the late Jahanara Imam in trying to bring to book the killers of 1971 as war criminals. He helped set up a People's Court that found leaders of Jamaat-e-Islami and BNP guilty of war crimes and urged the government to try them in a properly constituted tribunal.
But, the then government, instead of doing that, charged Kabir Chowdhury and 23 other of his colleagues with sedition and instituted a formal case against them. The case was withdrawn later during the caretaker regime headed by retired chief justice Mohammad Habibur Rahman.
Kabir Chowdhury acted as chairman of the Bangladesh Afro-Asian Writers Union for many years. He was also a member of the presidium of the Bangladesh World Peace Council and the Bangladesh Afro-Asian Peoples Solidarity Organisation.
He headed the Bangladesh-Soviet Friendship Society for over a decade. He was the president of the Bangladesh Vidyasagar Society and chairman of the Advisory Council of Ekattorer Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee.
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