Author Abdul Gaffar Chowdhury no more

Kolkata: Noted Bangladeshi scholar and intellectual Abdul Gaffar Chowdhury died in London on Thursday early morning.

He was undergoing treatment and was admitted in a London hospital.

Gaffar Chowdhury had composed the famous song to remember the Language martyrs, Amar Bhaier Rokte Rangano Ekushe February, which is immensely popular among the Bengali-speaking population globally. He died on the day when in 1961, 11 people had sacrificed their lives in the Barak Valley in Assam for the Bengali langage.

Born on December 12, 1934 in Barishal (now in Bangladesh), he started his career as a translator in Dainik Ittefaq in 1951. He had worked as a journalist in Saugat, a monthly magazine.

Before moving to the United Kingdom, he worked as a journalist in different national newspapers in Dhaka.

During the 1971 Bangladeshi Liberation War, he worked for Joy Bangla, Jugantar and Anandabazar Patrika.

In the UK, Choudhury founded the newspaper Notun Din. He has written 35 books.

Some of his notable works are Dan Pithe Shawkat, Chandrodwiper Upakhyan, Nam Na Jana Bhore, Nil Jamuna, Shesh Rajanir Chand, Polashi Thekey Dhanmondi, Bastobotar Nirikhey among others.

He has received numerous awards, including Bangla Academy Literary Award in 1967, Ekushey Padak, Unesco literary Award, Bangabandhu Award, Shanghati Lifetime Achievement Award in 2008, Sadhinota Padak in 2009.

He came to Kolkata with his family in 1971 and used to write in weekly Jai Bangla. His columns were regularly published in Anandabazar and Jugantar during the Bangladesh freedom movement. In 1974, he went to London for his wife's treatment and stayed back.

He worked throughout his life to popularise Bengali language and culture across the globe.