Former mayor of Sylhet City Badar Uddin Ahmed Kamran dies at 69

Badar Uddin Ahmed Kamran, the first mayor of Sylhet City Corporation, has died from COVID-19 in hospital care in Dhaka. He was 69.

The former president of the Awami League’s Sylhet Metropolitan chapter breathed his last at the Combined Military Hospital or CMH in the small hours of Monday, his son Dr Arman Ahmed Shiplu told bdnews24.com.

“My father is no more. He died around 3 in the morning,” Shiplu said, breaking into sobs.

A member of the ruling party’s Central Working Committee, Kamran was airlifted to the CMH by an Air Force helicopter on June 7 for advanced care. He was given plasma therapy there.

The former city father was diagnosed with the deadly respiratory disease on June 5.

His wife Asma Kamran had tested coronavirus positive on May 27.

President Abdul Hamid has expressed his deep shock over the death of Kamran.

“People will always remember him for his contribution to the development of Sylhet as the first elected mayor. The nation lost a sincere leader today,” he said.

In a message, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said: “Awami League leader Kamran will always remain in the people’s hearts for his good deeds.”

An ambulance carrying the body of the deceased Awami League leader set off from CMH around 7 am on Monday, said Badrul Alam, an aide to Kamran.

Kamran will be taken to his home in Sylhet city and will be laid to rest next to his parents in Manikpir Tila following a funeral prayer, said his younger brother Akhter Ahmed Ismat.

Born in Sylhet on Jan 1, 1951, he was elected a ward commissioner of Sylhet Municipality for the first time in 1973 while he was a higher secondary student.

He went on to become chairman of the civic body in 1995.

Kamran was nominated to helm it when the municipality was upgraded to a city corporation in 2002. A year later, he won the maiden election to Sylhet City Corporation.

Like many other politicians, he was arrested during the military-controlled caretaker government in 2007-8. But being at the peak of his popularity, he won elections from jail by massive margins.

He served as general secretary of the Sylhet town unit of Awami League since 1989 before becoming president of Sylhet city chapter in 2002. Kamran continued in this role for 14 years.

The Awami League inducted him into the Central Working Committee during its national council in 2016.

A book of condolence messages has been placed at the Sylhet City Corporation.

“He was the mayor of Sylhet for a long time. I urged the administration to bring his body to the Sylhet City Corporation for a brief period. But I’m not sure if it is possible under the present circumstances,” said Ariful Haque Chowdhury, mayor of Sylhet city.