JP Secretary General Ziauddin Bablu passes away

Jatiya Party Secretary General Ziauddin Ahmed Bablu passed away at a hospital in Dhaka on Saturday morning, at the age of 66.

Ziauddin Bablu, who contracted Covid-19, breathed his last while undergoing treatment at Bangladesh Specialized Hospital in Shyamoli at 9:12am, confirmed Khandaker Delwar Jalali, Jatiya Party chairman's press secretary.

The Jatiya Party secretary general tested positive for the deadly disease in early September and was admitted to Labaid Hospital in Dhanmondi, he said.

Bablu was shifted to the intensive care unit of the Bangladesh Specialized Hospital as his condition deteriorated.

The party leader had been suffering from asthma, cardiac ailments and other complications, Jalali said, adding that his lungs were severely affected due to the Covid infection.

Meanwhile, President Md Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina expressed their deep shock and sorrow at his death.

A cabinet member during the regime of Jatiya Party founder and late president HM Ershad in 1980s, Ziauddin Bablu served as the secretary general of the party for two terms. 

The body of Bablu will be kept at the party's central office in the capital’s Kakrail from 1:00pm to 3:00pm so that people from all walks of life can pay their homage to him.

The namaz-e-janaza of the Jatiya party leader will be held at Gulshan Azad mosque after Esha prayers. He will be buried at Martyred Intellectuals' Graveyard in Mirpur.