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Thousands mourn Justice Debesh's death

Staff Correspondent
Thousands of people yesterday paid their last respect to Justice Debesh Chandra Bhattacharya, who died of old-age complications at a Dhaka cliniconMondaynightatage89.
His body was taken to the Central Shaheed Minar at 11:00am, where a cross section of people including leaders of various, political and socio-cultural organisations paid their homage to the former judge, also a veteran civil and humanrights activist.
Eminent lawyer Dr Kamal Hossain, Communications Minister Nazmul Huda, former justices KM Sobhan and Mejbali Uddin Ahmed, economists Rehman Sobhan, Wahid Uddin Mahmud and Mozaffer Ahmed, frontline Awami League leaders Abdus Samad Azad and Abdur Razzaq, The Daily Star Editor Mahfuz Anam and Daily Manabjamin Editor Motiur Rahman paid homage to Debesh there, among others.
Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, Commerce Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury and leaders of Bangladesh Hindu, Buddhist and Christian Oikya Parishad, Workers Party of Bangladesh, Ekattorer Ghatak Dala Nirmul Committee, Bangladesh Awami Sechha Sebak League, Bangladesh Puja Udjapan Parishad and Jagannath Hall Alumni Association expressed their shock, among others.
Debesh's body was also taken to the Supreme Court, Ramkrishna Mission and Dhakeswari National Temple premises, where Chief Justice Syed JR Mudassir Hussain, Law Minister Moudud Ahmed, former judges, members of the Supreme Court Bar Association and religious leaders paid their tribute to the promi-nentjury.
The body of Debesh was taken to his home village in Kalihati upazila in Tangail yesterday where he was cremated in the evening.
Debesh left behind his wife, two sons, a daughter and a host of relatives and well-wishers to mourn him.
His wife Chitra Bhattacharya is a former lawmaker, elder son Debapriya Bhattacharya is the executive director of the Centre for Policy Dialogue, a civil society think tank, and younger son Debdarshi Bhattacharya is a physicist. Deblina Roy is his only daughter.
Debesh, who took the oath of office
as a judge on June 21 in 1972 soon after Bangladesh's independence, was appointed an appellate division judge of the Supreme Court in June 1975. He retiredin 1977.
Debesh was born on November 3, 1914 into Elenga Zemindar family in Tangail. He passed Matriculation in 1931 with government scholarship from Tangail Bindubasini High School and Intermediate of Science from Kolkata Presidency College in 1933 and obtained the Bachelor of Science degreein 1935.
He earned the Bachelor of Law degree from the University Law College in Kolkata in 1938 and Masters of Arts in Economics from Kolkata University in 1940 before joining Mymensingh Barin 1941.
He served two years in Memensingh jail as a political prisoner from 1949 and began legal practice at the High Court in Dhaka after release in 1950.
He taught law at City Law College from 1955 to 1971.
Debesh was the founder organiser of Bangladesh Hindu, Buddhist and Christian Oikya Parishad, Bangladesh Puja Udjapan Parishad and Mahanagar Sarbajanin Puja Committee.
A citizens' condolence meeting will be held at the Central Shaheed Minar at 3:00pm on February 15 to mourn the death ofjustice Debesh.
A 501-member committee with justice KM Sobhan as convener and Advocate Subrata Chowdhury as member secretary, has been formed to that end.