Obituary – Belayet Ahmed Chowdhury

Emdad Rahman

We receive the sad news that community activist Belayet Ahmed Chowdhury of Bow passed away this month.

His family and the people of Tower Hamlets have lost a supreme family man, and a bold, resilient, assiduous and devoted campaigner for the rights of the community.
Belayet Bhai, who hailed from Gatotikor, Kadomtali, Sylhet, struggled with his health, namely Motor Neurone Disease for some time. He was aged 51 when he left us.

His commitment to the community, which became his other family was second to none. He became an activist during the 70’s and 80’s, a period when community activism was still unfashionable in many quarters, and not the buzzword it is today.

We became familiar with Belayet Bhai’s razor sharp and incisive humour, and I for one spent many humorous and insightful hours talking to and learning from him in my office.

His general mantra always was, 'I'm proud of you not because of your accomplishments but because you're a good person and do things for other people.' This typically sums up the man, who was a role model to many of the youth he met, worked and supported during the 80’s.

His ability to inspire, and his straight down the line opinions are legendary. Though he was involved in so many community initiatives, those close to him, knew he never asked too much, which is why when he did ask for something, it was granted or taken very seriously.

Buried on Tuesday 15th December, in Forest Gate Cemetary, Belayet Bhai leaves behind 3 sons and 4 daughters. His eldest son is on verge of completing his Quranic memorisation (Hifz) at a UK Institute, before commencing his Alimiyyah studies.
The family, including Belayet Bhai’s brothers Shefayet and Kefayet Chowdhury expressed their profound sentiments to the community.

“Words cannot express just how much we are thankful to all friends, family and wellwishers,” they said jointly.

“We hope that everyone will forgive our dear brother, and join us in praying for his soul,”they added.

We wish the family and pray they are granted the strength they need to overcome their great loss.

emdad@londonbangla.com