DHAKA: Noted Bangladeshi educator and former municipal commissioner of Gulshan Shamsunnahar Karim passed away on Wednesday November 6 in Toronto. She was 79.

Mrs Karim, wife of renowned pharmacist late Dr Mohammed Abdul Karim, died of various old age ailments, including stomach cancer and liver cirrhosis.

She left behind two daughters, two sons, three sisters, one brother and a host of relatives, friends and students, said a press release.

Mrs Karim actively participated in the Language Movement in 1952. She has been involved with social works in Banani-Gulshan area since the late 1960s and served as a Commissioner of now defunct Gulshan Municipality from 1977 to 1981.

Karim was born in Bardhaman, India, in 1934 at her maternal grandfather’s home. Her father, late Dr. Shamsul Huda of Jessore, was a Major of the British Indian Army.

She was educated in Darjeeling, Eden Girl’s College and the University of Dhaka. She obtained BA in English Literature and B.Ed. degrees.

Mrs. Karim started her career as a teacher and was the founder Principal of Khulna Port School, Khulna, and Banani Model School, Dhaka. She also taught in Shaheed Anwar Girl’s School and College and Shaheed Ramizuddin School in Dhaka Cantonment, Ispahani Public School and College in Comilla Cantonment, and Uttara Model School in Dhaka.

She was buried at Richmond Hill Muslim Graveyard in Ontario on Friday (November 8) afternoon following her Namaz-e-Janaza at the Madina Masjid in Toronto. The qul khwani was held at her daughter’s residence at Thorncliffe Park in Toronto on (Sunday) November 10 afternoon.

Her eldest daughter Nilufer Shahnaz, who lives in Vancouver, was a popular presenter of Bangladesh Television and a drama artiste in the mid-1980 to mid-1990s.

Her eldest son Mohammed Shamsul Karim and youngest daughter Naila Sharmin, a teacher of Toronto District School Board, live in Toronto while the youngest son Mohammad Anwarul Karim lives in New York.

BDST: 1515 HRS, NOV 14, 2013
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