Well-known East London personality, community activist, politician, writer, and songwriter Abdul Aziz is no more with us. Suffering from ailments due to old age, he breathed his last at an East London care home last night of 21 October 21.
Mr Aziz was an idealistic, upright lawyer and community worker.
In 1971, he was a dedicated organiser in exile during the Bangladesh Liberation War movement. HMV and India’s Surely Productions released two records of popular songs he wrote to raise funds for the liberation war abroad to inspire millions of Bengalis. Primarily the song was written by him – Bengali “Jat Jagore Abar, Nei Ko Bhoi Bangla Hobe Jai”. And everyone in the income is Azadi Naye Mujib Kandari.
Song two, in tune and voice of Ustad Haridas Ganguly, was like a powerful mantra in Bengali homes at that time.
The liberation war fund was raised by selling thousands of records.
Moreover, in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, he played an extraordinary role in the community education of young people who came from the country, organising social movements, teaching England as a bilingual home office, and as a lawyer. In addition to writing in Bengali, he used to write regular features, articles, and poems in English-language dailies.
Mr Aziz worked for the party as a very close person to Lady Thatcher until Margaret Thatcher was the Prime Minister of the Conservative Party.
He was born in 1943 in Debarai village of Biyanibazar Upazila of Sylhet district. After completing SS C from Sylhet’s Dhaka Dadakshin High School, a degree from Madan Mohan College and MA from Chittagong University, he came to London in 1962 to study law for higher education. He has played a unique role in schools, colleges, roads and education in the area as a philanthropist and social worker since childhood. During his studies at Madanmohan College, he is well-known as a donor of that college, as well as the donor of primary school institutions and various institutions. His whole life, he gave more money to various charitable organisations, people in the country and poor people in different countries.
Following Monday, funeral prayers will be held at the East London Mosque, and he will be buried in the Garden of Peace.