POBNEWS24, Dhaka May 19, 2022 : Prominent journalist, lyricist, columnist and writer Abdul Gaffar Chowdhury has expressed deep grief over the death of the President. Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. The President and the Prime Minister expressed their condolences in separate messages on Thursday (May 19).
Press Secretary to the President Joynal Abedin and Assistant Press Secretary to the Prime Minister Ashraf Siddiqui Bittu said this.
Abdul Gaffar Chowdhury, the composer of the song ‘Ekushey February painted in my brother’s blood’, died in London at 6:40 am on Thursday (May 19) while undergoing treatment (Inna Lillahi wa Inna Ilahi Raziun).
He was 6 years old at the time of his death. He had been suffering from various ailments for a long time.
Note that Gaffar Chowdhury was born on 12 December 1934 in Barisal. His father Haji Wahid Reza Chowdhury and mother Mosammat Zahura Khatun. Among the three brothers and five sisters, elder brother Hossain Reza Chowdhury and younger brother Ali Reza Chowdhury. The sisters are Manik Bibi, Laili Khatun, Saleha Khatun, Fazila Begum and Masuma Begum. After the brutal assassination of Bangabandhu in 1975, he was living permanently in London.
Besides journalism, he has also written stories, novels, memoirs and children’s novels. He has published about 30 books including ‘Legend of Chandradwip’, ‘Picture of Emperor’, ‘Buriganga flowing slowly’, ‘Bengali or Bangladeshi’. He has also written several full-length plays. These include ‘Palashi to Bangladesh’, ‘Ekjan Tahmina’ and ‘Bloody August’.
Gaffar Chowdhury has been awarded many prizes in recognition of his work. He received the UNESCO award in 1973. Besides, he has been awarded Bangla Academy Medal, Ekushey Padak, Sher-e-Bangla Padak, Bangabandhu Padak and many more.
He is survived by three daughters and a son.