Leaders of anti-apartheid movement pay tribute to Muhammad Nurul Haque.

The first elected independent councilor of Tower Hamlets, East End Community School teacher and founding president of the Greater Noakhali Association, Muhammad Nurul Haque is no more. He passed away on Thursday, February 8 in Gazipur, Dhaka. Innalillahi wainnailahi Rajiun has been informed by a source – for the past one and a half years he was living with his wife in Gazipur near Dhaka. He was ill. He was buried in Ghazipur after Friday 9th February. He was childless. Meanwhile, the leaders of the anti-apartheid movement expressed their condolences by paying respect to this kind people. They pray for the forgiveness of the soul of the deceased. After receiving higher education in Bangladesh, Nurul Haque migrated to Britain with his wife Anwara Begum Haque after the independence of Bangladesh. He began living in London’s Tower Hamlets in the mid-70s. As a member of the Bengali Housing Action Group, he was involved in the movement of the homeless and lived as a female ‘squatter’ in Prelharm Building, a part of Bengali Town, and later bought a house in this area.

For the past fifty years he was a permanent resident of Banglatown in East London. He was also a social activist and involved in various organisations. Among his notable achievements in the social, political and educational spheres of East London were his social work when the local Labor Party did not give membership to Bengalis. A local political organization called the People’s Alliance of East London was formed on behalf of the organizations. A number of candidates were nominated in the local elections and one of them, Nurul Haque, won a majority in 1982. Nurul Haque’s greatest achievement is East and Community School located in Banglatown on his own initiative. Hundreds of boys and girls have benefited from Bengali, Arabic and supplementary education through this educational institution. Education enthusiast Nurul Haque established ‘Anwara Primary and High School’ in the name of his wife at Gazipur, Dhaka at the end of his life. He also established an educational institution in Sunagaji village of Noakhali, his native land. Personally, Nurul Haque was a good person. In a joint statement, they said, “The common people of East London have lost one of their own.” Rajon Uddin Jalal, Sirajul Haque Siraj, Rafiq Ullah, AK Azad Connor, Former Councilor Akikur Rahman Nur Uddin Ahmed and Ansar Ahmed Ullah.