Reciter, freedom fighter Kazi Arif dies in New York hospital

Recitation artist and freedom fighter Kazi Arif is dead at 65.

Doctors at a New York hospital took him off life support and declared him dead around 9:30pm Bangladesh Standard Time on Saturday, said Ahkam Ullah, general secretary of Bangladesh Recitation Coordination Council from there.

An architect by training, he was declared clinically dead around 11 pm local time on Friday at the hospital where he had been receiving care, his family confirmed.

Arif, who had been sick for some time, was admitted to Mt Sinai St Luke’s Hospital in Manhattan after his heart valves stopped working.

The reciter underwent a bypass surgery and a replacement of the heart valves on Tuesday, after which he was transferred to the intensive monitoring centre. His condition deteriorated after that.

His wife Progga Laboni is also a reciter and they have two daughters.

Cultural Affairs Minister Asaduzzaman Noor has condoled the passing of the Liberation War organiser.

Kazi Arif in hospital. Photo via reciter Ahkam Ullah's Facebook page

Around 1 am New York time, his daughter 'Anushka' said doctors had declared Arif clinically dead. His life support would be cut off the following morning, she added, and preparations would be made to bring his body back to Bangladesh.

Arif, who had been sick for some time, was admitted to Mt Sinai St Luke’s Hospital in Manhattan after his heart valves stopped working.

He underwent a bypass surgery and a replacement of the heart valves on Tuesday, after which he was transferred to the intensive monitoring centre. His condition deteriorated after that.

On Apr 21, the recitation artist had told bdnews24.com of his illness in a short message --: “I am now under the care of the hospital. I will undergo open heart surgery on the twenty-fifth. They will repair or replace the mitral valve and conduct a bypass. This is the second round of treatment. The name of the hospital is Mount Sinai St Luke’s.”

Kazi Arif was born on Oct 31, 1952 in Faridpur’s Rajbarhi and grew up in Chittagong. He is a cultural figure and writer as well. He fought under the command of Sector Commander Major Rafiqul Islam in 1971.

After the war he began studying at BUET and continued his work in the fields of literature, arts and culture and became one of the most renowned recitation artists in Bangladesh.