File photo of senior Awami League leader and former minister Mohammed Nasim Mahmud Hossain Opu/Dhaka Tribune

He was on life support after undergoing a brain surgery on June 5
 

Senior Awami League leader and former minister Mohammed Nasim has died while being treated at a hospital in Dhaka.

The 72-year-old breathed his last around 11am on Saturday at the Bangladesh Specialized Hospital, Awami League Office Secretary Barrister Biplob Barua told the Dhaka Tribune.

Nasim, who sat on the ruling party’s policymaking Presidium, was kept on life support after undergoing a surgery following a brain hemorrhage.

He leaves behind his wife and three children.

Prime Minister and Awami League President Sheikh Hasina has expressed her condolences over the death.

“Just like his father, Mohammed Nasim has served the nation, in line with the ideology of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, until his death,” she said in a message.

Bangladesh has lost a patriot and a leader of the people, Hasina said before adding “And I lost a trusted comrade.”  

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Nasim’s father, Muhammad Mansur Ali, who served in the 1971 war-time government, was among the four national leaders killed inside the Dhaka Central Jail in November 1975, two and a half months after the assassination of Bangabandhu.

Nasim who served Hasina in four different cabinet roles, was admitted to the hospital on June 1 with Covid-19 symptoms, including fever and cold. His tests came back as positive later.

Four days later, on June 5, he was rushed into surgery after suffering a stroke. He was kept on life support since then. A second test of his samples came back as negative, but his condition continued to deteriorate.

The five-time lawmaker had been suffering from various complications, including diabetes before testing positive for coronavirus infection.  He had also suffered a stroke before.