Abdul Jalil is dead

Former Awami League General Secretary Abdul Jalil MP passed away at a Singapore hospital on Wednesday. He was 72.

He had been undergoing treatment at the Mount Elizabeth Hospital for cardiac ailment.

Speaker Abdul Hamid informed Parliament about the news of his passing away at 6:20pm.

Jalil was taken there on Feb 26, MP Mohammad Israfil Alam told bdnews24.com over phone from Singapore.

Israfil had said doctors at the hospital placed him under a 30-hour watch.

The Chairman of Merchantile Bank, Jalil had earlier undergone three bypass surgeries.

He was made the Awami League General Secretary at the party’s 19th council in Dec 2002. He also served the last Awami League government as the Commerce Minister under the technocrat quota.

In September 2009, during a visit to London, he ranted against Awami League chief Sheikh Hasina, her picks in the Cabinet and party, and the general elections, but a week later, he said 'sorry' for shooting his mouth off.

Awami League general secretary Abdul Jalil speaks at a press conference at his residence in Gulshan in Dhaka on Tuesday, where he announced resignation from the post Photo: Firoz Ahmed/bdnews24.com/ Dhaka, July 21, 2009

The remarks he had made with a London-based ethnic TV station whipped up waves of anger and he was assaulted hours later by activists of the party’s youth wing Jubo League in Birmingham.

In his defence, the disgruntled MP said he still suffered from the trauma caused by torture by the military intelligence DGFI during detention by 2007-8 caretaker governmet and blamed the mental state for the testy remarks.

After his release, he was not reinstated as the General Secretary of the party.

Jalil is an MP from Naogaon-5.