Muktijudho
Ayesha Khanam Freedom fighter Ayesha Khanam passes away
Dhaka, January 2: President of Bangladesh Mahila Parishad, heroic freedom fighter, eminent woman leader Ayesha Khanam has passed away. She breathed her last at Bardem Hospital in the capital on Saturday morning. Ayesha Khanam was 74 years old.
Maleka Banu, general secretary of the women's council, told the media in a statement that Ayesha Khanam had died. She said Ayesha Khanam had been ill for a long time. She was suffering from lung cancer. Her physical condition deteriorated on Friday night and she breathed her last on Saturday morning.
Maleka Banu also said that she would be buried next to the grave of her late husband, engineer Mortuza Hasan, in the family graveyard in her village in Netrokona.
Ayesha Khanam was an active organiser of all the progressive movements including the student movement of 1962, the mass uprising of 1969, the Great Liberation War. At the end of her student life, she was dedicated to the rights of disenfranchised women. In her death, the women's movement in Bangladesh lost a genuine guardian.
Ayesha Khanam was born on 18 October 1947 in the village of Gabragati in Netrokona. Her father's name was Golam Ali Khan and her mother's name was Jamatunnesa Khanam. She was a student of Dhaka University in 1971 and was the vice-president of the central committee of the Bangladesh Students Union.
During her long tenure as the President of Bangladesh Mahila Parishad, she played a special role in realizing the rights of women.
President Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina have expressed deep grief over the death of freedom fighter Ayesha Khanam.
In a condolence message today, the President said, "Ayesha Khanam was a brave fighter in the movement for the establishment of women's rights. She has played an admirable role in the empowerment of women in the country."
The President prayed for the forgiveness of the soul of the late Ayesha Khanam and extended his deepest condolences to her bereaved family.
In a condolence message today, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said, “In the death of this woman leader, the women society of the country lost a genuine friend and a brave comrade."
She prayed for the forgiveness of the soul of the deceased and conveyed her deepest condolences to the bereaved family members.
