Writer Shawkat Ali no more

Writer Shawkat Ali has died during his treatment for lung infection and kidney and heart ailments in hospital, his son says. Ali was 82.

Doctors at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University Hospital declared the veteran litterateur dead at 8:15am on Thursday, said his son Asif Showkat Kallol, a journalist.

Ali got admitted to Dhaka's Labaid Hospital on January 4. He was put on life support there. He was later shifted to BSMMU, reports bdnews24.com.

"The death of Shawkat Ali is an irreparable loss to Bangla literature," President Md Abdul Hamid has said in a statement.

Writer Khaliquzzaman Elias, playwright Main Uddin, Jagannath University teacher Mirza Harun-Ur-Rashid, Jatiya Ganafront leader Rajat Huda, Foyzul Hakim Lala, general secretary of Jatiya Mukti Council, and Abdus Sattar, a writer's assistantfor Shawkat Ali, arrived at the hospital to pay their last respects.

BSMMU Vice-Chancellor Kamrul Hasan Khan and Director Brig Gen Md Abdullah-Al-Harun paid last respects to the mortal remains of Shawkat placed in a coffin outside the hospital.

The mortal remains were taken to his Tikatuli home. After a funeral service, the body was taken to the Central Shaheed Minar premises at 3pm where people from all walks of life will pay tributes.

Ali was laid to rest at the Jurain graveyard in Dhaka, his son Arif Shawkat Pallab said. The writer was born in West Bengal, India on February 12, 1936.