Amid an outpouring of respect and affection from thousands of grieving people, Maulana Farid Uddin Chowdhury, a former member of parliament for the Sylhet-5 (Kanaighat-Zakiganj) seat and a veteran leader of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, was laid to rest.
His funeral prayers were held at around 4:30 p.m. on Saturday (June 13) on the grounds of the Jamia Islamia Yusufia Fazil Madrasa, which he founded, in Kanaighat, Sylhet. The prayers were led by his only son, Najmus Sakib Chowdhury.
Besides thousands of mourners from Kanaighat and Zakiganj upazilas, hundreds of people from Sylhet city travelled long distances to take part in the funeral. After the prayers, he was buried on the campus of the madrasa he founded.
Among those who spoke at a gathering before the funeral were Jamaat-e-Islami nayeb-e-ameer and member of parliament A.T.M. Azharul Islam; Mufti Maulana Abul Hasan, member of parliament for the Sylhet-5 seat and a Khelafat Majlis leader; Dr. Enamul Haque Chowdhury, adviser to the BNP chairman and the deceased’s son-in-law; Jamaat-e-Islami assistant secretary general Ehsanul Mahbub Zubair; Sylhet district ameer Maulana Habibur Rahman; Dhaka metropolitan north Jamaat ameer Muhammad Selim Uddin; the newly appointed chairman of the Sylhet Development Authority and acting president of Sylhet metropolitan BNP, Rezaul Hasan Kayes Lodi; and Sylhet metropolitan Jamaat ameer Muhammad Fakhrul Islam.
Also present at the funeral were Sylhet metropolitan BNP general secretary Emdad Hossain Chowdhury; former chairman of Jaintapur Upazila Parishad Zoynal Abedin; former chairman of Fenchuganj Upazila Parishad Saifullah Al Hossain; former chairman of Dakshin Surma Upazila Parishad Maulana Lokman Ahmad; Sylhet metropolitan Jamaat nayeb-e-ameer Nurul Islam Babul; Sylhet district Jamaat nayeb-e-ameer Syed Foyzullah Bahar; Kanaighat Upazila BNP president Mamun Rashid; Kanaighat Upazila Jamaat ameer Maulana Kamal Uddin; and leaders of various political parties.
Maulana Farid Uddin Chowdhury had long suffered from various age-related complications. As his physical condition deteriorated, he was admitted some time ago to the intensive care unit (ICU) of Sylhet’s Ibn Sina Hospital. He died there while undergoing treatment at around 1:30 a.m. on Friday (June 12).
Maulana Farid Uddin Chowdhury was the member of parliament for the Sylhet-5 seat from 2001 to 2006. He also served for a long time as ameer of Sylhet district Jamaat-e-Islami during the 1980s and 1990s.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report