The death of eminent journalist, lyricist, columnist, writer and Language Movement hero Abdul Gaffar Chowdhury has cast a shadow of mourning over Ulania village in Mehendiganj, Barisal.
As the news of Chowdhury's death spread in Ulania on Thursday, locals started crowding at his ancestral home in Uttar Ulania village.
The valiant writer was born at Chowdhury Bari of Ulania village, also known as Zamindar Bari, on December 12, 1934. His mother was Zahura Khatun. His father Hazi Wahed Reza Chowdhury was a landlord and anti-British movement veteran.
He studied at the local Ulania Junior Madrasa and Ulania Coronation High School. He graduated from Dhaka University in 1959 and went to England on October 5, 1974.
Chowdhury last visited his village home in 2012 when he attended the centenary celebrations of the Coronation High School.
“Then we met and talked with him. We’ve lost a loved one and one of our guardians,” said relative Akbar Chowdhury, who lives in Ulani Chowdhury Bari. “His relatives and admirers are visiting the place though none of his family members live here.”
Special prayers were held at different mosques in the area after Juma prayers. Traders kept their shops shut and offered prayers in the union for the peace of his departed soul.
The Zamindar Bari where he was born has remained abandoned.
The now-abandoned Chowdhury Bari, also known as Zamindar Bari, of Ulania where Abdur Gaffar Chowdhury was born in 1934 Dhaka TribuneMilton Chowdhury, a nephew of Chowdhury, said they expected that the three daughters and the son of the veteran journalist would come to Bangladesh with the body on Monday.
He will be buried beside the grave of his wife Selima Afroz Choudhury, who died in London in 2012, at the Mirpur Martyred Intellectuals’ Graveyard.
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The couple went to London as Selina had been suffering from a serious illness in 1975. It was during their stay in London that Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was brutally murdered along with his family back home.
Poet Asad Chowdhury, the Canadian expatriate cousin of the noted journalist, said that, besides suffering from old-age complications, Chowdhury became mentally unstable after the death of his elder daughter, Binita Chowdhury.
On Thursday, Ulania Union Parishad authorities arranged a condolence meeting and milad-mahfil for the peace of his departed soul.
UP Chairman and Organizing Secretary of Upazila Awami League Nurul Islam Jamal Mollah said: “Journalist and columnist Abdul Gaffar Chowdhury was our pride. His death has created a huge void that will not be easily filled.”
Local lawmaker Pankaj Nath expressed his condolence after hearing about his death.
A man of boundless creativity
His contributions to Bangla literary world were acknowledged even before Bangladesh's independence while he received Bangla Academy Literary Award back in 1967. He was awarded Sadhinota Padak in 2009.
Chowdhury was also the recipient of the Ekushey Padak Unesco Literary Award, Bangabandhu Award, and Shanghati Lifetime Achievement Award.
He is best known for writing the lyrics of "Amar Bhaier Rokte Rangano" which is a widely celebrated song commemorating the Bengali Language Movement in 1952.
The song is regarded by listeners of BBC Bengali Service as the third best song in Bangla.
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But he was a frequent visitor to his homeland and wrote newspaper columns regularly keeping a close touch with Bangladesh and an eye on the country's affairs.
Before moving to Britain, Chowdhury worked as a journalist in different national newspapers in Dhaka and during the 1971 Liberation War, he worked for Joy Bangla, Jugantar and Anandabazar Patrika.
In the UK, Chowdhury founded a newspaper called the Notun Din while during his career as a journalist he authored 35 books like "Dan Pithe Shawkat", "Chandrodwiper Upakhyan", "Nam Na Jana Bhore", "Nil Jamuna", "Shesh Rajanir Chand" and "Polashi Thekey Dhanmondi".
He also produced a film on Bangabandhu's assassination titled "Polashi theke Dhanmondi".
