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Published : 24 Apr 2023, 01:59 PM
Pankaj Bhattacharya, the president of Oikya NAP and one of the organisers of the country's Liberation War, has died in hospital care at the age of 84.
The veteran politician died while undergoing treatment at Health and Hope Hospital in Dhaka’s Panthapath around 12:20 am on Monday, said Sayeed Ahmed, general secretary of Sammilito Samajik Andolan.
He was admitted to the hospital after being diagnosed with pneumonia on Apr 17. He was put on life support after his health deteriorated on Saturday.
His funeral will be held at Postagola Mahashashan, a crematorium, in the capital on Tuesday. The decision was taken in a meeting held early on Monday, chaired by Oikya NAP’s acting president SMA Sabur.
Born in Noapara in the Raozan Upazila of Chattogram in 1939, Pankaj was involved in politics from his student life. He was elected as the vice president of the East Pakistan Students' Union in 1962 and then became the organisation's executive president afterwards.
He served as a deputy commander of the NAP-Communist Party-Students Union Special Guerrilla Force during Bangladesh's Liberation War in 1971. He became the general secretary of the NAP after the Liberation War.
Pankaj was jailed in the Swadhin Bangla conspiracy case initiated by the government of Pakistan in 1966.
He was one of the founding leaders of the Gono Forum led by Dr Kamal Hossain and became a presidium member of the party in 1993. He later formed a platform named Sammilito Samajik Andolan.
He founded the Oikya National Awami Party, known as Oikya NAP, in 2010 and was heavily involved in leftist politics throughout his life.
