bdnews24.com : Senior journalist Mahfuz Ullah has died at the age of 69.
He passed away during treatment at Thailand’s Bumrungrad Hospital on Saturday morning, his daughter Nusrat Humaira has confirmed.
Mahfuz Ullah had fallen critically ill and had been receiving care at the hospital in Bangkok for the last three weeks.
Rumours of his death had begun circulating on Apr 21 but his daughter Nusrat moved to dismiss it at the time.
Speaking to bdnews24.com from Thailand on Saturday, Nusrat said that Mahfuz was declared dead by doctors at 11am local time.
Mahfuz was admitted to Dhaka’s Square Hospital on Apr 2 after suffering a heart attack.
He was treated at the hospital’s Intensive Care Unit and had been put on life support.
Mahfuz was subsequently flown to Bangkok’s Bumrungrad Hospital on an air ambulance on Apr 11 after his health showed signs of improvement.
The veteran journalist and columnist had been suffering from a combination of a heart condition, kidney ailment and high blood pressure. He had previously undergone a bypass surgery in Bangkok.
Mahfuz Ullah was born in Noakhali in 1950. He graduated from Dhaka University with degrees in physics and journalism.
Mahfuz also took part in 1969’s 11-point movement as an activist of the then East Pakistan Student Union.
He had been also been expelled from Dhaka College during the regime of military ruler General Ayub Khan. He later served as the president of Chhatra Union (Menon).
Mahfuz was drawn to journalism during his time as a student and was involved with the popular weekly publication ‘Bichitra’ since its inception in 1972.
He has also worked in several Bangla and English dailies, making notable contributions to the field of environmental journalism.
Mahfuz had also served in the Bangladesh Deputy High Commission in Kolkata as an expert on China.
Aside from working as a journalist, Mahfuz was also a part-time teacher at Dhaka University’s mass communication and journalism department.
He authored and edited over 50 books in Bangla and English on various subjects and appeared regularly on television talk shows.
He has edited books on an array of subjects, including the biographies of BNP founder Ziaur Rahman and Khaleda Zia, the mass uprising of 1969, insurgency in Assam, and Bangladesh post-independence.
