Humayun Ahmed's mother dies at 84

Asyesha Foyez, mother of three celebrities -- writers Humayun Ahmed, Muhammad Zafar Iqbal and cartoonist Ahsan Habib -- has passed away.

The 84-year old matriarch was suffering various ailments when admitted at the capital’s Labaid Hospital.

Doctor Md Imran, who has been treated her at the Coronary Care Unit, said she died at around 7.20 am Saturday.

She had been suffering from kidney malfunction and was admitted in a critical condition on Sept 11.

"There was an infection in her kidney," hospital doctor Prof Baren Chakraborty had told bdnews24.com. "She had a dialysis six months ago."

Born on Mar 23, 1930 at Barhatta's Koitali village to Abul Hossain and Khairun Nesa, she was married to Foyezur Rahman Ahmed in 1944.

Ahmed, a brave and patriotic police officer, died a martyrs death during the 1971 Liberation War. The killing of the Sub-Divisional Police Officer in Pirojpur was the fifth charge against Pak Army collaborator and convicted war criminal Delwar Hossain Sayedee, but that could not be proved.

Ayesha Foyez's Namaz-e-Janaza was held at the mosque next to son Ahsan Habib’s Pallabi residence at 1.30pm after midday prayers.

From there, her body will be taken to ancestral home Netrokona’s Mohanganj, Ahsan Habib told bdnews24.com.

She will be laid to rest at 10am Sunday after a second Janaza.

Her author sons have lovingly depicted Asyesha Foyez in their literary works. She has left behind three more daughters Sufia Haider, Momtaz Shahid and Rukhsana Ahmed.

Ayesha was often referred as ‘Ratnagarbha’ – meaning a woman who has given birth to gems.

The nation solemnly mourned when her much-loved son Humayun Ahmed died in New York in September, 2012 after battling colon cancer for months.

She herself has authored autobiography ‘Jiban Je Rakam’ where she re-explored her childhood, marriage, motherhood, the painful disappearance of her husband during the war and their collective struggle that followed.

Ayesha Foyez faced a lot of hardships while raising her six children. After Liberation, the government granted the family a home in Dhaka’s Mohammadpur but they were soon evicted from there.