Shawdesh Desk:

The first namaz-e-janaza of Zainul Haque Sikder, chairman of Sikder Group of Companies, has been held.

The janaza took place at ZH Sikder Medical College at Rayerbazar after zuhr prayers around 1:20pm on Saturday.

Before the janaja, he was given a guard of honour.

Zainul Haque Sikder died on February 10 while undergoing treatment at a Dubai hospital at the age of 91.

The body will be flown to his village home in Bhedarganj upazila of Shariatpur district where he will be laid to eternal rest by the grave of his mother Zarina Sikder following another janaza there.

Earlier, the body of Zainul Haque Sikder was brought home on Friday afternoon.

A chartered flight carrying his mortal remains landed at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport around 5:15pm, said family sources.

The body of the valiant freedom fighter and renowned social worker was taken to Zainul Haque Sikder Women’s Medical College Hospital in Gulshan from the airport.

Later, the body was taken to his Dhanmondi residence.

A leading industrialist of the country, Zainul Haque Sikder was born on August 12, 1930 in Assam of undivided India and he migrated to present-day Bangladesh with his family during the partition in 1947.

He was one of those who contributed greatly to the development and progress of Bangladesh. He established a large number of business ventures in the fields of education, health, housing and tourism and employed about 20,000 people in the last seven decades.

Apart from establishing business entities, Zainul Haque Sikder developed numerous entrepreneurs. He extended a helping hand to many leading entrepreneurs of the country during their initial days of establishing businesses.

He was well-known as a philanthropist, too. Besides founding schools, colleges and hospitals, he extended support to efforts for poverty reduction and welfare of the underprivileged and marginal people of society.

Zainul Haque Sikder had been with Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman as one of his close and trustworthy associates since 1945.