National flag’s first designer Shib Narayan passes away
He died around 9:25am at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, his son Arnab Aditya Das confirmed over the phone.
Freedom fighter Shib Narayan Das, designer of the first flag of Bangladesh, passed away while undergoing treatment at a Dhaka hospital Friday (19 April) morning.
He was 78.
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He died around 9:25am at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, his son Arnab Aditya Das confirmed over the phone.
Shib Narayan was born in Cumilla. His father, Satish Chandra Das, was killed by the Pakistani army during the Liberation War in 1971.
The freedom fighter is now survived by his wife, Gitashree Chowdhury and their son, Arnab Das.
He joined politics as a follower of language movement hero Dhirendranath Dutta. He participated in the education movement of 1962 and was imprisoned.
He was an activist and leader of the Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL).
On June 7, 1970, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was scheduled to take part in a student parade at Paltan, Dhaka.
For this purpose, a squad of students called 'February-15 Force' was formed, which decided to create their flag for them.
One day ago, BCL leaders ASM Abdur Rab, Shahjahan Siraj, Kazi Aref Ahmed and Marshal Monirul Islam sat in room No-108 of Sergeant Zahurul Haque Hall of Dhaka University to devise the flag plan.
The party's leader, Swapan Kumar Chowdhury, Jagannath College unit leader Nazrul Islam, Cumilla district's general secretary and a central student leader, Shib Narayan Das, BUET unit general secretary Hasanul Haq Inu and student leader Yusuf Salauddin were present in the meeting.
Based on the initial proposal of Kazi Aref, it was decided to make a flag with a yellow map of Bengal in the middle of the red sun on the green ground.
Kamrul Alam Khan then stitched a red circle in the middle of a large piece of green cloth from a Bihari tailor's shop in Dhaka's New Market.
Then the map of East Pakistan was drawn on tracing paper with an atlas from Enamul Haque of room No. 312 of Titumir Hall of Buet.
Shib Narayan finally drew the map with a skilled hand in the middle of the red circle. Later, at the instruction of Father of the Nation Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Patua Kamrul Hasan gave a new look to the national flag of Bangladesh.
In a condolence message, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD) President Hasanul Haque Inu and General Secretary Shirin Akhtar expressed deep shock at the demise of the flag designer and conveyed sympathy to the bereaved family.
