Prof Neem Chandra Bhowmik passes away

Eminent academic and freedom fighter Prof Neem Chandra Bhowmik died early today while undergoing treatment at the National Institute of Cancer Research and Hospital in Dhaka.

He breathed his last around 12:30am, according to a condolence message issued by the Bangladesh Puja Udjapan Parishad today.

Bhowmik was one of the founders of the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council. He also served as general secretary and president of the Bangladesh Puja Udjapan Parishad and president of the Mahanagar Sarbajanin Puja Committee.

A former teacher of the Applied Physics Department at Dhaka University, he served as provost of Jagannath Hall and as Bangladesh's ambassador to Nepal.

In a joint condolence message, Bangladesh Puja Udjapan Parishad President Basudev Dhar and General Secretary Santosh Sharma, along with Mahanagar Sarbajanin Puja Committee President Gopal Chandra Debnath and General Secretary Subhashish Kumar Biswas, expressed deep shock at his death.

They said Bhowmik's contributions to education, the Liberation War, communal harmony, the protection of minority rights and the establishment of a non-communal Bangladesh would be remembered.

They prayed for eternal peace for the departed soul and conveyed condolences to his family, colleagues, students, admirers and followers.