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Zafrullah Chowdhury: A true patriot and ‘the doctor of the poor’

Published : Friday, 14 April, 2023 at 12:00 AM  Count : 866
Syed Badiuzzaman
Almost every country in the world is blessed with some special people. These people are born to do great things for others and make the world a better place. They never think about themselves as other people's wellbeing always remains at the top of their mind. These people are heroes and when these heroes die, they make people sad and cry.

Bangladesh just lost such a hero. His name was Zafrullah Chowdhury; he was a medical doctor. The people belonging to his profession are still quite limited in Bangladesh and they generally hold a higher status in the society. But Zafrullah Chowdhury was an exception. He was a humble man. Despite prosperity, he lived and lately dressed like an ordinary person.

I knew he was sick and suffering from kidney complications. A couple of days ago, when I received the news that his condition deteriorated and he was placed on  life support at the hospital, I updated my Facebook status with a post about this asking my friends on the social media to pray for his recovery. Many responded with their prayers for him.

Then on Tuesday afternoon Toronto time, I got the sad news which I never wanted to hear -- Zafrullah Chowdhury passed away shortly after 11 p.m. the same day Bangladesh time. Instantly I felt like I lost one of my own. Then I further updated my Facebook status this time with the news of his passing. And this time my friends on Facebook prayed for peace of his soul in the paradise.

As I turned on a private Bangladesh TV news channel, I saw heart-wrenching scenes at the hospital where he died. Many people of Dhaka city rushed there in the middle of the night after hearing the news of his passing and they included men and women of all ages. So, who was this man? What made him so popular? What brought so many people out of their home during that hour of night to the hospital where he breathed his last?

Let's find out. Zafrullah Chowdhury was a veteran freedom fighter who founded "Ganashasthaya Kendra" which stands for "Mass Health Center" in Dhaka with a plan to provide healthcare services to the poor and underprivileged people of the country. It was a bold, innovative and ground-breaking measure which no one in Bangladesh ever took before for the poor and needy. That was what made him so popular across the country.

A well-known physician and public health activist, Chowdhury earned his medical degree from Dhaka Medical College in 1966 and then he did his master's in public health at Johns Hopkins University in the USA. He also received surgical training in London. But when the Liberation War broke out he rushed back to Bangladesh from the U.K. and established a field hospital for treating war-wounded freedom fighters.

In 1972, Zafrullah Chowdhury founded his "Ganashasthaya Kendra" or "Mass Health Center" to provide healthcare services to the needy and underprivileged members of the community and earned fame as "the doctor of the poor." He won the Ramon Magsaysay Award for community leadership in 1985 and received many other accolades and honors for his contributions to the public health and social welfare especially for the poor people.

Chowdhury got chances to settle in the U.K. or U.S as he received surgical training in London and did his master's in public health at Johns Hopkins in Maryland and could live a cozy life abroad but he never took that chances. Many Bangladeshi physicians went abroad for higher studies or training and they never returned to their home country. But Zafrullah Chowdhury had something else in his mind. He wanted to use his knowledge and training he received in the West for treating the poor and the needy people of Bangladesh.

While in his homeland, Chowdhury also got chances to establish a private hospital like many currently in Bangladesh with a motive to make money side by side with providing healthcare services to the people at a high cost. However, greed for wealth never came to his mind. He rather founded his "Ganashasthaya Kendra" or "Mass Health Center" to provide free or affordable healthcare services to the poor people of the country and truly became "the doctor of the poor."

Apart from being a dedicated medical professional and philanthropist, Zafrullah Chowdhury was also a voice for the voiceless, a guardian in critical times of the country and the conscience of the nation. He was a straight talker and he never hesitated to speak out loudly for democracy, human rights and social justice. Whenever there was a national crisis, Zafrullah Chowdhury's voice was heard. And when he used to speak on any matter, the people of Bangladesh used to listen.

As the news of his death broke on social media, an endless stream of condolence messages began forthcoming on Facebook from Bangladeshis all over the world. I knew that Zafrullah Chowdhury was popular but I never knew that he was so much popular among men and women alike. Heart-wrenching posts at the death of one of the most compassionate sons of Bangladesh continued to dominate Facebook News Feed with his large pictures all day Tuesday. And those posts received reactions from people asking God to grant him paradise.

Elahi Newaz Khan, a longtime journalist of Bangladesh who had a very close and personal relationship with Zafrullah Chowdhury posted a truly heart-breaking condolence message on Facebook soon after his death on Tuesday with this title: "The Final Journey of a Legend." And this was the verbatim English text of his full message posted in Bengali: "He departed. Inna Lillahi wa Inna ilayhi raji'un [Verily we belong to Allah, and verily to Him do we return]. This is like a great hero's slipping into eternity fighting a battle. He fought until he took bed with his sickness. He was an exceptional man among the most intimate people of my life."

His moving message continued: "Dr Zafrullah Chowdhury was this legendary great hero who used to become a relative of the oppressed people. Perhaps we will no more find such a courageous and unflawed patriot in the contemporary political history of Bangladesh. The nation lost such a courageous man whose empty place will never be filled in a country where the practice of free expressions and thoughts is limited. There is no place on this planet to hold the sorrow caused by his final journey. May Allah grant Zafar Bhai [brother] paradise."

Unlike most polarizing figures in Bangladesh, he was just the opposite. He was rather a man of strong unifying character who used to bring people together with his moderate views on various issues. And amazingly he did it not only in his life but also in his death. As the news of his passing spread through the country, a badly divided nation suddenly became united in mourning the great patriot. The president, prime minister and also opposition leaders mourned the death of the Bangladeshi hero cutting across partisan divide.

Zafrullah Chowdhury dedicated his whole life serving his country and people. Apart from being an outstanding physician who championed healthcare for the poor, he performed superbly in every role he played with his sensible and middle-of-the-road approach that earned him enormous praise from people of diverse views and political affiliations. The nation will forever remember his extraordinary   contributions to the welfare of the downtrodden with gratitude.

The writer is a Toronto-based journalist who also writes for the Toronto Sun as a guest columnist


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