Sylhet has paid its last respects to late veteran politician and Awami League leader Suranjit Sengupta.
Published : 06 Feb 2017, 01:26 PM
Thousands, including senior leaders of the local Awami League and BNP parties, gathered at Sylhet’s Central Shaheed Minar at 11am on Monday to pay tribute to the former parliamentarian.
Elected seven times to the National Parliament as a representative of Sunamganj, Suranjit was known to Sylhet’s political activists as ‘Dada’.
The chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Ministry died while undergoing treatment at Labaid Hospital in Dhaka early on Sunday.
President Md Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheik Hasina paid their last respects to Suranjit at the National Parliament on Sunday.
His body was transported by helicopter from Dhaka to Sylhet at 10am on Monday morning.
“The void left by the loss of this secular politician can be felt in Sylhet and all across the country,” said Pankaj Debnath. “It cannot be filled.”
“We have lost a guiding light in politics,” said Misbah Uddin Shiraj. “You could be sure he played a visionary role in meeting every crisis our country faced.”
The Sylhet District and City Awami League, Chhatra League, Juba League, Volunteers' League, Sylhet District Administration, Sylhet City Corporation, Freedom Fighters Assembly, Joint Cultural Alliance and a number of other social, cultural and political organisations also paid their respects to the departed politician.
Suranjit was one of the youngest members of the East Pakistan Provincial Assembly in 1970.
He was also a member of Bangladesh’s first committee for drafting the Constitution and served as the co-chairman of the parliamentary panel on the 15th Amendment during the Ninth National Parliament.
After the memorial service ended at 12pm, the mortal remains set out for the MP’s constituency in Sunamganj.
The last rites will be performed at Suranjit’s birthplace in Derai Upazila.