Pankaj Bhattacharya will receive civil tribute at Shaheed Minar tomorrow

Civil tribute will be paid to veteran politician, valiant freedom fighter Pankaj Bhattacharya at Central Shaheed Minar tomorrow. The tribute will start from tomorrow morning at 10:30 am and continue till 12:30 pm. Pankaj Bhattacharya's sister-in-law Bahnishikha Das Purkayastha gave this information today. Pankaj Bhattacharya (84) breathed his last at the capital's Health and Hope Hospital yesterday night. 

Pankaj Bhattacharya was suffering from various problems including breathing problems. He was admitted to Health and Hope Hospital last Monday. As his condition deteriorated, he was put on life support last Saturday morning. He died at 12:28 pm yesterday.

Bahnishikha Das Purakayastha told the media that Pankaj Bhattacharya's dead body has been kept in the freezer of Samrita Hospital of the capital. His body will be placed at the base of the Central Shaheed Minar tomorrow morning at 10:30 am for civil tribute. The tribute will continue there till 12:30 noon. After that, his last rites will be completed at Postogola crematorium in the capital.

Pankaj Bhattacharya was born on August 6, 1939 in Noapara village of Raujan Upazila of Chittagong. His education was spent in Chittagong and Dhaka. He was expelled from Chittagong Collegiate School in 1959 due to his involvement with student movement. Pankaj Bhattacharya is an eyewitness, a leading activist and organizer of all the movements and struggles of Bangladesh starting from the student movement of the 1960s to the liberation war and later. 

In 1962, Pankaj Bhattacharya was elected as the Vice-President of the East Pakistan Students Union Central Committee and later as the Executive President. He was accused in the 'Independent Bengal Conspiracy' case and imprisoned in 1966.

He also gained great fame as a successful footballer at a young age. He always had infinite interest in writing and culture.