Veteran politician and advisor to the Communist Party of Bangladesh Haider Akbar Khan Rono passed away early Saturday at a private hospital in the capital. He was 81.
He breathed his last at about 2:05am at the intensive care unit (ICU) of Health and Hope Hospital, Panthapath, CPB central committee member Jolly Talukder confirmed this.
She said comrade Rono had been receiving treatment at his Dhanmondi residence. As his condition deteriorated on Monday (May 6) evening, he had been admitted to the Health and Hope Hospital where he died at an early hours.
He had been suffering from respiratory system complications for a long time, Jolly Talukder added.
His body will be kept at the Samorita Hospital morgue until Monday (May 13) as his family members are currently abroad.
After the family’s return to Bangladesh, the veteran politician’s body will be taken to the Shaheed Minar so people from all walks of life can pay their last respects, it was learnt.
He will be laid to rest next to his parents at the Banani Graveyard in the city.
Rono was born on August 31, 1942, in Kolkata in undivided India. His ancestral home was Barashula village in Narail.
A Marxist and general secretary of the East Pakistan Students Union, Haider Akbar Khan Rono was one of the organisers of the Liberation War.
He was a longtime member of the Bangladesh Workers Party but left the party and joined the CPB in 2010 over differences.
A prolific writer, Rono published 25 books and many booklets. He received the Bangla Academy Literary Award in 2021.