Veteran Politician Matia Chowdhury Passes Away, Janaza on Thursday

Rtv News

16 Oct 2024, 18:13

Photo: Collected

Matia Chowdhury, a prominent politician and member of the Awami League Presidium, has passed away. She died on Wednesday, October 16, at 1:00 PM while undergoing treatment at Evercare Hospital in Dhaka.

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Arif Mahmud, the General Manager of Evercare Hospital, confirmed the news.

He stated, "Matia Chowdhury was brought to the hospital this morning following a cardiac arrest. We immediately started treatment after conducting an ECG. Despite our best efforts, we could not save her. She breathed her last at 12:57 PM."

Awami League presidium member and former agriculture minister and Bangladesh Jatiya Sangsad deputy leader Matia Chowdhury's funeral will be held tomorrow Thursday at Bad Johar Gulshan Azad Mosque. Then he will be buried in the Martyr Intellectual Cemetery.

Earlier, a family member revealed that Matia had been receiving medical treatment for a long time. Though she was briefly taken home, she had to be re-admitted to Evercare Hospital due to complications.

Born on June 30, 1942, in Pirojpur, Matia Chowdhury was the daughter of police officer Mohiuddin Ahmed Chowdhury and Nurjahan Begum, a homemaker. In her personal life, she married renowned journalist Bazlur Rahman on June 18, 1964.

She was the former Member of Parliament (MP) for the Sherpur-2 constituency. Her political career began with left-wing politics as a member of the National Awami Party (NAP) before joining the Awami League. In recognition of her significant contributions during Bangladesh's Liberation War, the Bangla Academy awarded her an honorary fellowship in 2021.

While studying at Eden College, she became involved in student politics and was elected president of the Bangladesh Student Union in 1965. Known as the "Agni Kanya", Matia joined the National Awami Party in 1967 and became a member of its executive committee. Between 1970 and 1971, she actively participated in Bangladesh's independence struggle through advocacy, campaigning, and nursing the injured.

Matia served as the organizational secretary of the Awami League during the 1971 Liberation War. Throughout the regimes of Presidents Ziaur Rahman and Hussain Muhammad Ershad, she was arrested several times.

During the Awami League governments of 1996, 2009, and 2013, Matia held the position of Agriculture Minister. She was recently serving as the Awami League’s No. 1 presidium member and, in January 2024, took on the role of Deputy Leader of the National Parliament after the 12th parliamentary election.

However, she lost her parliamentary seat earlier this year when President Mohammad Shahabuddin dissolved the National Parliament in July-August, following mass student and public uprisings that led to former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fleeing the country.

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