Bar Jamiruddin passes away

Former Speaker of the National Parliament and former Acting President Barrister Jamiruddin Sircar passed away on Sunday at the age of 95. He died at 4:18am while undergoing treatment at Bangladesh Specialized Hospital in Shyamoli. He was laid to rest with full state honours at the Parliament Graveyard beside the Jatiya Sangsad He is survived by one daughter, Nilufar Zamir, and two sons, Naushad Zamir and Naufel Zamir. His eldest son, Barrister Naushad Zamir, is currently the Member of Parliament for Panchagarh-1. His wife, Noor Akhtar, died in 2023.

Jamiruddin Sircar born on December 1, 1931, in Nayabari village of Tentulia upazila in Panchagarh, he was the son of Maulvi Muhammad Aziz Baksh and Begum Fakhrunnesa.
 
Family members said he had been receiving treatment for several age-related illnesses for the past few days.
His first namaz-e-janaza was held after Zuhr at Taqwa Mosque in Dhanmondi, second namaz-e-janaza took place after Asr in the tunnel beneath the South Plaza of the National Parliament.

Prime Minister and BNP Chairman Tarique Rahman attended the funeral prayer. Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmed (Bir Bikram), Deputy Speaker Barrister Kaiser Kamal, ministers, members of parliament, the Secretary of Parliament and BNP leaders from different levels also joined the prayers.

Because of adverse weather, his body could not be taken to his ancestral home in Panchagarh. Instead, local people there held a funeral prayer in absentia.

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman expressed deep sorrow over his death. In a condolence message, he prayed for the forgiveness of the departed soul and conveyed sympathy to the bereaved family.

Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmed, Deputy Speaker Barrister Kaiser Kamal, the Chief Justice, the Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Minister, the Attorney General, leaders of the Nationalist Lawyers Forum, the Supreme Court Bar Association and several lawyers' organisations also expressed grief over his death.

The passing of the veteran BNP leader has cast a shadow over the country's political and legal communities. Many of his colleagues visited his Dhanmondi residence to pay their final respects.

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, along with Standing Committee members Gayeshwar Chandra Roy and Nazrul Islam Khan, also expressed deep condolences over the death of their long-time colleague.

Jamiruddin Sircar served as Speaker of the National Parliament from October 28, 2001, to January 25, 2009. He also served as Acting President of Bangladesh from June 21 to September 6, 2002, following the resignation of President AQM Badruddoza Chowdhury.

During his long political career, he served as State Minister for Public Works and Urban Development, State Minister for Foreign Affairs, State Minister for Land, Minister of Education, Minister of Science and Technology, and Minister of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs under different BNP governments.

During his tenure as Law Minister in 1996, the constitutional provision for elections under a caretaker government was introduced. As Speaker, he administered the oath to members of the Ninth Parliament in January 2009 before handing over office to the newly elected Speaker later that month.

A graduate and postgraduate in History from Dhaka University, he later earned an LLB from the same university before qualifying as a Barrister-at-Law from Lincoln's Inn in London. After returning to Bangladesh in 1960, he established himself as a leading lawyer specialising in constitutional, civil and criminal law.

He began his political career through the Students Federation in 1945 and later joined the Students Union and the National Awami Party (NAP). He actively supported the Liberation War in 1971 as part of a group of High Court lawyers.

He later joined Jagdal formed by President Ziaur Rahman and subsequently became a founding leader and Standing Committee member of the BNP, a position he held until his death.