ICT chief prosecutor Golam Arif Tipu no more

Language movement veteran, freedom fighter and prosecutor of the International Crimes Tribunal Golam Arif Tipu passed away while undergoing treatment at a city hospital Friday morning.

He breathed his last at the age of 93 at Labaid Hospital in the capital at 8:20 am, said acting chief prosecutor of the International Crimes Tribunal Syed Haider Ali.

Golam Arif Tipu was suffering from various old age complexities for a long time.

He was serving as the chief prosecutor of the International Crimes Tribunal, formed to hold trial of the people who committed crimes against humanity during the liberation war in 1971, from 2010.

Syed Haider Ali further said Golam Arif Tipu was taken to Labaid Hospital in a critical condition on Thursday.

The place of his burial will be fixed after discussion with his family, he added.

Golam Arif Tipu was born in Kamalakantapur village in Shibganj upazila of Chapainawabganj on 28 August in 1931. He was the second of the nine children of his parents. His father  Aftab Uddin Ahmad was a district registrar.

He obtained his MA degree from Dhaka University.

Golam Arif Tipu got involved with left-leaning politics when he was a student. He served as general secretary of Bangladesh Chhatra Union from 1954 to 1956. He took part in the language movement as well. He led the ‘Rashtra-Bhasha’ (state language) movement in Rajshahi in 1952 and in setting up of the first Shaheed Minar at Rajshahi College.

He was awarded the Ekushey Padak in 2019 for his contributions in the language movement.

Golam Arif Tipu started his career as a lawyer in 1958. He came to limelight while working as a defence lawyer in the much talked about Nihar Banu murder case.

He was elected the president of Lawyers Association of Rajshahi several times, as a senate and syndicate member of Rajshahi University and a member of Bangladesh Bar Council.