BNP leader, former minister Shamsul Islam dies at 87

Former minister and BNP leader M Shamsul Islam has died at the age of 87.

The veteran leader passed away around 1:30pm on Thursday while undergoing treatment at the United Hospital in Dhaka, said his aide Kamrul Hasan.

The octogenarian politician was admitted to the hospital on Apr 17 for treatment of asphyxia, a medical condition in which the body is deprived of oxygen, and other old-age complications. 

Islam was the member of the BNP Standing Committee for a long time and played the key role in the party's decision-making process throughout his political career.

He was elected MP from Munshiganj-3 constituency for three times.

Islam was the Bangladesh high commissioner to Indonesia when military ruler Ziaur Rahman was in power.

He also held the portfolios of commerce and telecommunication when BNP came to power in 1991 after the first general election under a caretaker administration.

In 2001, when his party came to power with Khaleda Zia as prime minister, he was first made land minister and later given the information ministry portfolio.

His aide Kamrul said the BNP leader’s first Namaz-e-Janaza (funeral prayer) would be held at the Gulshan Central Mosque around 9am on Friday.

His body will be kept in front of BNP’s central office at Naya Paltan at 10pm to let the party leaders and activists pay their last respects.

After another funeral prayer at the BNP central office, his body will be taken to his village home in Munshiganj and he will be buried at the family graveyard.

His wife, Anwara Islam, died in 2015. They left behind two sons, Saiful Islam and Monadir Islam.