DHAKA, Jan 03, 2024 (BSS) – Veteran labor leader and freedom fighter Shahidullah Chowdhury passed away today at his Dhaka residence.
He was 84.

“Shahidullah, also former president of the Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB), breathed his last at 2:00pm at his Dhaka residence in Demra,” Shahidullah’s youngest son Monirul Islam Chowdhury Roni told BSS.

His body would be kept at the CPB party office from 9:00am to 10:00am tomorrow, and then it would be taken to Central Shaheed Minar to allow people to pay tributes, said Joint Secretary of the Trade Union Centre Abul Kalam Azad.

Afterwards, the body will be taken to his residence in Demra where he will be laid to eternal rest after a namaz-e-janaza, he added.

Shahidullah, also advisory council member of Bangladesh Institute of Labour Studies (BILS), is survived by his wife, four sons, numerous relatives, colleagues, and a host of admirers to mourn his death.

Shahidullah Chowdhury had been battling illness for a long period and had been receiving treatment. Despite his ailing health, he has led the jute mill workers’ movement since 2020.

He had also served as the chairman of the Jute, Yarn, and Textile Workers’ Movement Committee for a long period and was the president of Bangladesh Trade Union Center for many years.

Chowdhury began his career as a general worker at the Latif Bawani Jute Mill in 1964, and over the next five decades, he became a prominent figure in labor movements, consistently fighting for the rights of workers across the nation.

His leadership extended beyond the labor community as he contributed significantly to various mass movements in the country.

The Bangladesh Institute of Labor Studies (BILS) expressed deep shock and sorrow at the death of freedom fighter Shahidullah Chowdhury and prayed for the salvation of the departed soul along with expressing deep sympathy to the bereaved family members.

In a condolence message, the institute stated that his death marks an irreparable loss to the trade union movement in Bangladesh.