Shamsul Islam, senior lawyer of Noakhali and freedom fighter, dies at 75

AKM Shamsul Islam, a freedom fighter and senior lawyer at the Noakhali Judge’s Court, has died at the age of 75.

Abu Naser Manju Noakhali Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 19 Feb 2020, 02:15 PM
Updated : 19 Feb 2020, 02:15 PM

His family said he breathed his last at Maijdee town on Tuesday night.

His elder son, bdnews24.com News Editor Monirul Islam, said Shamsul felt sudden chest pain and fell ill at his home in the town’s Laxminarayanpur around 9pm.

The doctor declared him dead when he was rushed to hospital, he added.

Shamsul’s Namaz-e-Janaza was held at the court premises at 10am on Wednesday.

The family then took the body to their home village Binodpur in Laxmipur Sadar Upazila.

Shamsul was buried at the family graveyard there following another Namaz-e-Janaza at the Binodpur Government Primary School ground after Zuhr prayers. 

District and Sessions Judge Saleh Uddin Ahmad, Noakhali District Bar Association President Mollla Habibur Rasul Mamun, General Secretary Abdul Gofran Bhuiyan, General Prosecutor Abdul Mannan, Public Prosecutor Gulzar Ahmed Jewell, former president of the association ABM Zakaria, Abdur Rahman, Abdur Rahim, and Noakhali City Awami League President Abdul Wadud Pintu were among those who attended Shamsul’s funeral prayers at the court premises.

Shamsul was held in huge trust and respect by the poor as an honest and righteous lawyer, the leaders of the profession in the city recalled at the prayers.

In his death, the Bar has lost a guardian, its members said. 

Its President Mamun said Shamsul had been elected vice-president of the association for no fewer than 15 times. He had also been elected joint secretary and member on numerous occasions.

Shamsul was the founding headmaster of MA Rashid High School in the city. He fought against the Pakistani forces during the 1971 Liberation War.

The freedom fighter left behind his wife, three sons and a daughter.

His younger son Zahirul Islam is also a journalist while their other brother, Tariqul Islam Ripon, has followed in his father’s footsteps in entering the legal profession. A member of the bar association, Ripon is working as an additional public prosecutor at the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrates Court. He was the library and publication secretary of the association’s last committee. Their only sister is the youngest of all.