Barrister Abdur Razzaq passes away

Senior Supreme Court lawyer and former Assistant Secretary General of Jamaat-e-Islami, Barrister Abdur Razzaq, has passed away. He died at Ibn Sina Hospital in Dhaka on Sunday (May 4) at 4:15pm, where he had been on life support. He was 81 years old at the time of his death.

Senior Supreme Court lawyer Advocate Shishir Monir confirmed the news to Views Bangladesh.

He said, "Barrister Abdur Razzaq had been battling cancer for a long time. He was admitted to Ibn Sina Hospital in Dhaka in critical condition on April 21. He passed away there on Sunday while on life support."

Barrister Razzaq returned to Bangladesh after spending 11 years in the UK on December 26 last year. His junior colleagues at the Supreme Court Bar Association hosted a reception in his honor on January 6. He had left the country on December 18, 2013. Before that, he served as a defense lawyer for Jamaat-e-Islami leaders accused of crimes against humanity at the International Crimes Tribunal.

While living in the UK, he resigned from Jamaat-e-Islami on February 15, 2019. In response, then-acting Amir Dr. Shafiqur Rahman said in a statement, "We are saddened by his resignation. It is the right of any member to resign. We pray for his well-being and hope our relationship of mutual respect continues." Later, Barrister Razzaq became the Chief Adviser of a new political party called ‘Amar Bangladesh (AB) Party.’ However, after a political shift in the country, he resigned from that post on August 17.

Upon his return to Bangladesh, when asked by journalists about returning to politics, he said, "I am a lawyer. I work in the courtroom. I want to contribute through the field of law. The rule of law is very important. If we can establish the rule of law in our country, our politics will succeed, and we will achieve economic development. So I will continue to work in the legal field to serve the country and its people."

Barrister Abdur Razzaq was born in 1944 in Shekhlal village in Mathiura Union in Beanibazar Upazila of Sylhet. After earning his BA (Honors) and MA degrees, he became a barrister from Lincoln’s Inn in the UK in 1980. He practiced law in London until November 1985. After returning to Bangladesh, he was enrolled as a lawyer in 1986, admitted to the High Court Division in 1988, and to the Appellate Division in 1994. In 1990, he founded a legal firm named “The Law Counsel,” and he became a senior lawyer of the Supreme Court in 2002.

Barrister Razzaq is survived by two sons and a daughter. Both sons are also barristers and are practicing at the Supreme Court.