Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS)'s former city editor, columnist and poet Shamsul Alam Bhuiyan, popularly known as Shamsul Alam Belal, has passed away at a city hospital, BSS reports.
He was 63.
Journalist Belal was admitted to the Ibrahim Cardiac Hospital on February 5 with breathing problems, family sources said.
He suffered a cardiac arrest in the early hours of Monday and could not be revived.
He is survived by wife, two daughters and a host of relatives, friends and admirers.
His namaz-e-janaza will be held at the National Press Club here at 12pm. Later he will be taken to his ancestral home at Ludiara village of Chauddagram, Cumilla for burial.
Born in Ludiara, Belal was a career journalist. He joined BSS in 1981 and went on retirement in 2020.
Belal also worked as the Dhaka-based correspondents of 12 international media outlets at different times and wrote columns in several leading English newspapers in Bangladesh regularly.
He was also a founding member of Dhaka Reporters' Unity (DRU) and Economic Reporters' Forum (ERF).
Prior to joining BSS, Belal worked as an assistant film director and also acted on stage.
He was an ardent follower and practitioner of Bengali and Indian classical music and also sang in Bangla, Urdu and Hindi on stage.
Belal also authored different books including "The Silver Line in My Memory," "United States, Russia, China, Israel, India and the Muslim World," "Bangladesh: From Ancient Age To Modern Era," "Jatir Pitar Somadhite O Onyanyo Kobita," and "South Asia: Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow."
His family requests everyone to pray for eternal peace of the departed soul
of Balal.
