Awami League Presidium Member and Deputy Leader of the House Syeda Sajeda Chowdhury has died. She was 87.
She breathed her last while undergoing treatment at Combined Military Hospital (CMH) in Dhaka at 11:40pm on Sunday, her son Shahdab Akbar Chowdhury confirmed to Dhaka Tribune.
President M Abdul Hamid, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, and Deputy Leader of Opposition GM Quader have expressed deep condolence at the sudden demise of the senior party leader.
Sajeda Chowdhury was Sheikh Hasina’s long-time companion on the street movements. She got the Independence Award in 2010.
The Faridpur-2 lawmaker was admitted to the hospital with post-Covid-19 complications two weeks ago. On Saturday, Shahdab said his mother was improving.
The Awami League leader’s son said her body will be taken to her hometown in Faridpur's Nagarkanda after first namaj-e-janaza on the Parliament premises. Later she will be laid to eternal rest at Banani graveyard.
In 2015, she underwent bypass surgery in India.
She became the party’s general secretary in 1986 and held the position till 1992 when she was inducted into the Presidium.
Following the landslide victory of the Awami League in the 2008 elections, she was initially appointed deputy leader of the house in 2009.
After the Awami League won the 2014 elections, Syeda Sajeda Chowdhury was reappointed to the same position.
In 2019, she was elected member of the parliament from Faridpur-2 constituency for the seventh time and elected deputy leader of the House for the third time.
Syeda Sajeda Chowdhury, one of the organizers of the Liberation War, was born in a respected Muslim family in Magura in 1935.
She joined Awami League in 1956. She served as the founding general secretary of Mohila Awami League from 1969-1975.
She was the founding director of Kolkata Gobra Nursing Camp during the Liberation War.
The veteran leader also served as the acting general secretary of Awami League.
Apart from politics, she also engaged herself in social works and contributed to the development of sports, cultural and religious institutions.