Moon Correspondent: Prime Minister and Leader of the House Sheikh Hasina yesterday said Awami League (AL) lawmaker and noted film actor Akbar Hossain Pathan, who is popularly known as Farooque, played an unforgettable role during the Liberation War.
“Farooque is a freedom fighter. He had been an active Chhatra League activist since the anti-Ayub movement. He made contributions to every struggle and movement of the country with due courage. His role in the six-point movement and the 1971 Liberation War will never be forgotten,” she told the parliament. She said this by joining a discussion on a condolence motion placed in the House to express shock at the demise of Farooque. The Prime Minister said, “His death is an irreparable loss to our cultural sector,” she said, adding that Farooque not only contributed to politics, but also contributed to the cultural arena. She said the cultural activists had taken the side of the Awami League and emboldened the courage of its leaders and activists in every struggle and movement. When the name of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was erased after the 1975 massacre and none dared to utter his name, the cultural activists came forward, she added. “He (Farooque) played a role in the formation of a cultural organisation after the name of Bangabandhu and brought patriotic songs to the frontline, revitalizing the spirit of the Liberation War during that time.
