Janaza of Serajul Alam Khan held at Baitul Mukarram
The first namaz-e janaza of Serajul Alam Khan, one of the key organisers of the Liberation War, was held at the Baitul Mukarram national mosque in Dhaka on Saturday morning.
After the prayers at 10:00 am, his body was taken to his village home in Noakhali.
Before the prayers in Dhaka, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD) president ASM Abdur Rab recalled the contribution of Serajul Islam Khan to the country’s independence.
He disclosed the decision to bury him beside the graves of his parents in Begumganj of Noakhali. ASM Abdur Rab said they took the decision as per his last wish and in consultation with his family and leaders of JSD, the party he formed.
Serajul Alam Khan does not belong to merely a family or a party. Rather, he belongs to the 180 million people of the country. He did not accumulate any personal wealth in his life, said the JSD president.
He went on saying that when nobody even thought about forming a country, Serajul Alam Khan formed a nucleus to give the shape of Bangladesh. “He left us quietly. We will carry on his unfinished work unitedly,” he added.
BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, Nagarik Oikya president Mahmudur Rahman Manna, Ganosamhati Andolon chief coordinator Zonayed Saki, and some other political dignitaries, among others, attended the prayer.
Serajul Alam Khan breathed his last at 2:30 pm on Friday while undergoing treatment at Dhaka Medical College Hospital.
He was admitted to the hospital with health complications and placed in the Intensive Care Unit on 1 June. He was put on life support on Thursday upon deterioration of his health condition.
He was born in Alipur village under Begumganj upazila in Noakhali on 6 January in 1941 to school inspector Khorshed Alam Khan and housewife Zakia Khatun. He was second among nine siblings.
Serajul Alam Khan became assistant secretary of Bangladesh Chhatra League in 1961 and elected general secretary of the organisation in 1963.
Immediately after independence, Serajul Alam Khan initiated Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD) in 1972.
Writer, researcher Mohiuddin Ahmed wrote a book titled ‘Protinayak Serajul Alam Khan’, which was published by Prothoma Prokashan.
Mohiuddin wrote, “Serajul Alam Khan’s rise was in 1960s under student leader Shah Moazzem Hossain, and at the aegis of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Some more student leaders were prominent at that time. Serajul Alam Khan's difference with the others is- he was tenacious. He himself said Sheikh Mujib’s six-point had ignited his heart. When Mujib was released from jail in 1969, he found the ground was prepared for him where he can sow the seeds. Serajul Alam Khan was the man behind preparing the ground. And, he did that acknowledging Sheikh Mujib as his leader.”
In his reaction over the death of Serajul Alam Khan, writer Mohiuddin Ahmed told Prothom Alo today, “Serajul Alam Khan was a successful organizer in 1960s. He made us dream of independence.”
Mohiuddin said Serajul Alam Alam focused on organising the youth of the country after liberation war rather than joining hands with power.
In ‘Protinayak Serajul Alam Khan’, he shared his final wishes.
“There will be no commemoration after my death. The body will not be displayed at the Shaheed Minar. My body, confined in a wooden coffin, should be sent to my village home in Begumganj, Noakhali as soon as possible. I’ve kept a sari of my mother. Draped with that sari, my coffin would be buried in the grave of my mother.”
BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir expressed his deep condolences at the demise of Serajul Alam Khan.