Centenarian Awami League activist Ishaque Ali Master finally meets Hasina

Centenarian Ishaque Ali Master had joined the Awami League’s just-held national council with dreamy eyes to see Sheikh Hasina and his final wish has been granted.

Staff Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 30 Dec 2019, 08:45 PM
Updated : 30 Dec 2019, 08:45 PM

The grassroots Awami League leader from Kushtia had an audience with Hasina at the Ganabhaban on Monday.

Awami League Office Secretary and Hasina’s Special Assistant Biplab Barua shared photos of the meeting on his Facebook page.

Ishaque’s son Ali Mortuza Khosru said they went to the Ganabhaban after Awami League Joint General Secretary Mahbub-Ul Alam Hanif invited them over the phone in the afternoon.

Besides Ishaque and Khosru, Ishaque’s daughter-in-law Shammi Akter and granddaughter Mahira Mortuza also went to the prime minister’s official residence.

“Father reminisced about Bangabandhu in the meeting with the leader [Hasina]. The leader also inquired about local politics,” Khosru, a former president of Kushtia District unit of Bangladesh Chhatra League, said.

“My father was very happy to meet the leader. He also prayed for her long life,” he said.

Hasina treated the family to tea, dates and sweets.

Ishaque, the founder of the Awami League’s Abdalpur union unit in Kushtia, had been elected chairman of the union council four times. He had served the party as a vice-president of its Kushtia Sadar unit.

The 101-year-old was in the spotlight after he joined the Awami League’s council. Many ministers and MPs shared photos of Ishaque carrying a stick at the council venue, the Suhrawardy Udyan.

“My final wish is to catch a glimpse of ‘Sheikher Beti’,” he had told bdnews24.com. Many old-timers call Hasina “Sheikher Beti” or daughter of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the Father of the Nation.

He said he had been working for the Awami League with “Mujib Bhai” since the beginning of the 50s. Bangladesh is celebrating birth centenary of its founding father in 2020-21.