First funeral prayer for Prof Mozzaffar held at parliament building

The first Namaz-e-Janaza of National Awami Party President Professor Mozzaffar Ahmad (Pro-Moscow NAP) has been held at the South Plaza of the parliamentary building.

President Md Abdul Hamid, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury paid their last respects to the veteran politician after the funeral prayer on Saturday morning.

Prof Mozzaffar, a member of the Liberation War-time government’s advisory council, died at the age of 97 in a Dhaka hospital on Friday while being treated for geriatric complications.

The coffin of the politician was subsequently taken to the NAP office premises in Dhanmondi from the parliamentary building. Later, it will be taken to the Central Shaheed Minar in Dhaka where people from all walks of life will pay tribute to him.

Cabinet members of the ruling Awami League, Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB) President Mujahidul Islam Selim, Barrister Amir-Ul Islam, a member of the committee that drafted Bangladesh's constitution, and fellow politicians also took part in the funeral prayer at the parliamentary building.

On behalf of Hamid, his assistant military secretary Brigadier General Kazi Iftekharul Alam placed a wreath on Prof Mozzaffar’s coffin.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury later paid their tributes to Prof Mozzaffar.

The prime minister also placed a wreath on his coffin as a chief of ruling Awami League accompanied by party leaders.